A Strange Arrangement Ch. 03

Our work schedules conflicted to the extent that we would barely be in the house at the same time again until late Thursday- technically early Friday. I kept the house clean, learned another couple recipes (I privately laughed at how Andrew thought I was a very experienced cook), and even went out with some coworkers for drinks on Thursday.

I think they were shocked when I took them up on the offer, since I had turned them down every time in the past. But now with rent, gas, and food covered, I had a little flexibility in my budget. Though I'm usually a stay-at-home type of person, I really needed a night out. And I think I craved some casual human contact.

It felt awkward at first. I thought Steve was flirting with me, and I barely knew how to respond. My life was a little more complicated than the last time I'd been out. Just the same, I tried to flirt back but without moving things forward just yet. I also deftly handled questions about my new living arrangements and how I suddenly had the funds to go out for fun. I had forgotten that Steve had met Andrew, so there was no hiding the basics. I told them I was renting a room but that housework and cooking covered some of my expenses there. I didn't feel the need to tell them what covered the rest of my expenses.

After a few hours of unwinding and starting to feel normal again, I was too drunk to drive. I was glad to see that a bus was still running at midnight. Leaving my car at the restaurant, I took the bus back to the house. It took much longer than driving, but none of us had been sober enough to be behind the wheel, and a taxi was not in my budget yet. So it was almost 2am when I stumbled in the door.

I pissed like a champ, then hit the fridge for a late night meal. I was off the next day and I wasn't ready to sleep. I pulled out a beer to go with my proudly homemade Chicken Kiev and sat down to watch another old comedy movie that was left in the DVD player. It was so nice to laugh and eat and not worry.

Halfway through the movie, Andrew got home. It was one of his double-shift days- 8 to 4 at the body shop and 6 to 2 at...wherever he worked at night. He went straight for the fridge, put together the same beer and chicken combo I had just finished, and sat down on the other side of the couch, handing me another beer. He smiled and laughed through the movie, finished his dinner, and took both our plates to the kitchen. He came back just as the credits were starting to roll.

I was stretching on the couch, and Andrew stood there, staring at me. I'm sure my chest looked nice as my back arched and my arms spread out. He knelt down next to me and started kissing my exposed stomach.

Shit. I had forgotten about that. "Andrew, I'm pretty tired."

"It's been over two days, Gina, that's the max."

I rolled my eyes, "Fine."

He quickly unbuttoned my jeans and slid his hand under my panties. With three fingers, he started rubbing my lips- slowly, gently, with long strokes. Then he slipped his middle finger inside me, gently working it in until he could do full strokes. All the while he was kissing me.

Oh, what the hell, I thought. I was still buzzed from the evening and a little turned on from flirting with Steve. I started kissing back. No reason I can't get some enjoyment out of this, right?

That just kicked him into high gear. I don't know how he had the energy after a 16 hour work day, but his hands started pulling off clothes- my pants, his shirt, my panties, his pants. All the while, he was still going after my mouth with his tongue. I was still lying down on the couch and he was still sometimes kneeling, sometimes leaning next to me.

Once our clothes were off, he resumed fingering me. I spread my legs to give him better access. I was sleepy and buzzed enough to not care that he might get me off. I was starting to feel warmer and I was squirming on the couch. I was in that state where my arms and breasts and legs just needed to be touched- I needed skin.

I reached over to Andrew and pulled him onto the couch. He settled on top of me and lined up his cock with my entrance. At this point, I was so ready that my hips were pushing at him, trying to get him inside me. I was making small, squeaky moans of frustration, sensing his tip right on my outer lips but not able to get him lodged inside. I think he may have even pulled back a bit just to tease me. With both hands I grabbed his ass, which was nice and firm, and I pulled him into me.

I moaned my satisfaction and slid my arms up his back. I rubbed my legs up and down his thighs, moving them as if I was climbing a ladder. My arms slid all over his back and sides. I pushed my breasts up to to his chest and wiggled around. Skin. I needed to feel skin. I needed to be touched. I needed skin as deep inside me as it could get. I wanted skin all over me, everywhere. I shifted so he could get his hands around me- touching my back, my ass, my neck. Still kissing. Face skin rubbing. Foot skin touching.

Thrusting deep. Breathing deep. Moaning into his mouth. Tongues greeting each other, welcoming each other. Arching my back so my stomach could rub his abs. Skin on chest. Arm skin rubbing. Hearing him gasp. Hearing myself gasp and cry out.

Timeless thrusting and rubbing. Stretching out my legs and wrapping them around his. Nowhere to roll, nowhere to move. Pushing up, writhing.

He reached to the floor and grabbed a small pillow. Slipping a hand under my butt, he lifted me up, pulling me into him, and slid the pillow under me. Now my hips were angled just right. He pulled himself forward a little until my face was in his chest. But oooh, boy! My clit was getting some good pressure. He stopped pulling out to thrust and just grinded himself into me. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh...oh...OH!! Shhhhhhit oh jeez! I grab his ass and help grind. Hand on breast, rubbing, gentle twisting, rubbing again. Heavy breathing above my ear. Hand skin rubbing down my side, cradling my hips, rubbing my...

Ohhhhhh...I...God, I...UNGH!

I clenched my eyes shut, curled my toes and came, my head convulsing forward into his solid chest. He held still, continuing to press himself firmly inside me...sooo deep. My walls pulsed around him and my legs tried to squeeze together. He moaned and whispered "Yes...yes..."

At some point, he slid down a little so that our faces were even again. He placed his lips on mine and I did not refuse him entry. Gentle kissing and caressing while aftershocks continue. Occasional squeezing of his still firmly planted cock. Moments of shivering, chills, goosebumps. He could reach my breast with his mouth and began kissing and licking. I started thrusting up and grinding again, just because.

He reached down to my knees and pulled them up, one at a time locking his elbows under them. Folding my legs as far as he could get them, he resumed thrusting. This position always feels so much deeper, and the affect hit him quickly. He started a frenzied thrusting and grinding combination. I was so wiped out from my orgasm, that I did nothing to help. Once again, I mostly felt like a passive receptacle, just a prop in his sexual act.

He would thrust a few times and then grind himself deep inside me. He was groaning and moaning, and clearly enjoying himself. He tried to reach down and kiss me, but with my legs folded up, it wasn't easy. His arms still locked behind my knees, he had easy access to my breasts. He started to rub them, but I think he was so close that he all he could manage was to hold on to them. It was during one of those grinding motions that he gave a shout and started cumming. He couldn't get it any deeper, but he tried. His hands went into action again, trying to grab something- thighs, ass, shoulders- something to give more leverage, to pull my body closer, to get him in deeper.

And then he was done. He used his hands to crawl back and straighten his back so that he was kneeling on the other end of the couch. He slumped back and that's about all I remember.

I woke up a few hours later, still naked, still on the couch, with a pillow under my head and a blanket over me. The sun was coming up, and I could hear Andrew upstairs whistling in the shower, getting ready to head to work at 8. How did he work so much and sleep so little? I didn't care, I was just glad I didn't need to. I wrapped the blanket around myself as I stood up. I walked quietly up the stairs, slipped into bed, and fell soundly asleep until almost lunch time.

*******

I woke up mildly hungover and wanting only to bury myself under the covers forever. I felt sick and scared and embarrassed and confused and I wanted it all to go away. I closed my eyes and nursed some memories of my former life- I thought about middle school and family vacations and innocence and safety until the urge to pee was so strong that I had to leave my cocoon.

I was so so SO glad that Andrew was at work this morning. I just didn't want to deal with him. I couldn't make it through a lunch of leftovers without stopping to cry. You just need to pull yourself together. It's just sex, it's totally worth it. You're in control here. I think that last thought is what bothered me the most. As long as could detach myself and make sex something business-like and impersonal, then I was in control. What scared me so much about last night was that I didn't detach, I didn't distance myself from the moment, it wasn't impersonal. It wasn't just that I came, it was that I wanted to fuck him last night. Not at first, I didn't, but once we got started, I really, really wanted it. I didn't want him, thank God, but I wanted it, the sex, the fucking, the touching, the thrusting...shit, I had to stop thinking about it.

The best way to switch mental gears was to set about my task for the day. I was going to "clean" Andrews's room. To my credit, it had taken me almost a week to totally violate his privacy. I was going to clean his bathroom, change his sheets, and see what interesting things I could find.

I felt like I was finally thinking more clearly- I had the foresight to do a lot of quick cleaning right away so that if he saw me in there, it would be obvious that I had been working. I hate cleaning bathrooms, so I put some music on his bedroom stereo, brought some fragrance candles in from my room, and set to work. After 45 minutes, it was looking...better. Sheets were in the wash, dirty clothes picked up...there was no question that I had been in there.

I started looking through drawers.

Nothing hidden in his top drawers. I think I had expected the cliché stash of either drugs, porn, or women's underwear. But it was just a sock drawer with...socks. All his other drawers were the same. His night stand had odds and ends inside, but nothing incriminating.

His closet was more promising. Piled high with cardboard boxes and plastic bins, it served as a storage area. I glanced at the clock- 3:05. I started pulling out boxes, one by one, and peeking inside. Off-season clothes...sports equipment that hadn't been used in a while...then- bingo! Pictures, memorabilia, concert ticket stubs, souvenirs...wedding album.

*******

I knew this was what I was looking for, but I paused just the same. For some reason this felt like the next level of violation. I flipped to the first page. She was pretty. Tall, slender, not very chesty, blonde, big smile. They made a great couple. I had never seen him smile like that. Flipping through these photos, I began to realize how much of a darkness was over the Andrew I knew.

Friends, family, laughter- everything you want to see in a wedding album. And on the last page were ticket stubs for their flight to...Cancun. That was 6 years ago. Her name was Penny.

Then there were brown bags with stacks of pictures in them- unorganized but easily grouped. Fun times, road trips, parties. Then a picture of my room, freshly painted and decorated, with a baby bassinet. She was very pregnant and glowing. I wanted to be her friend.

Pictures of a baby girl, time-stamped 4 years earlier. A happy family. Drew holding his newborn daughter, beaming. The three of them on the steps outside the house, home from the hospital?

O God, why was I crying?

I jumped when I heard my phone buzz- a text. I was glad for the distraction.

Are you home? From Andrew

I'm at the house. Damn if I'm going to call this place home.

I heard my phone buzz his reply, but I felt no urgency to check it. Noticing that it was close to 4, I started putting the boxes back in the closet, hoping he didn't have some meticulous system and would notice that they had been moved. Judging from the rest of the house, I doubted he was that organized. I finished putting the closet back together and glanced around to make sure I hadn't left a trace of my explorations. When I was finished, I picked up my phone to see what he wanted. Probably dinner, since he would be home from 4-6 today. Thankfully, I had something ready to be heated up.

Good, I'll be there in 5 minutes. Be in my room, naked. Five minutes? Just then, I heard the front door open and then slam shut. He ran up the stairs. Not thinking clearly enough to protest, I shucked my pants and was just lifting my shirt up when he stormed in the room. His shoes and overalls were on the floor at the door and he stepped out of them as he rushed towards me.

Firmly pushing me onto my back on his bed, he finished pulling off my shirt, stepped out of his briefs, crawled onto the bed and positioned himself between my legs.

I actually felt a little scared- he was snorting and panting in a fury- something had gotten him all worked up. He reached down and felt my hole- I was still dry. He growled in frustration, ran to the bathroom, yanked open a drawer and started rifling through it.

Meanwhile, I rearranged the pillows and looked around one more time to make sure I hadn't left any evidence of my snooping. His sheets were still in the laundry, but I had enough time to spread his comforter across the mattress. Frankly, I was too scared to say anything to him.

He ran back to the bed, one hand holding a bottle of lube and the other rubbing his very pronounced dick. He was jutting straight out and his dick was bouncing in time with his pulse. He put the lube on the nightstand, wiped his hand on the first article of clothing he could grab (my shirt, dammit!) and climbed back on top of me.

He didn't even use his hands to line himself up- he just got on top of me, used his knees to spread my legs, wiggled his hips until he felt his tip catch in my lips, and pushed. The first push slipped right up my lips and past my clit. He growled again, reached down to work the tip in enough to be set, and then thrust hard. One big thrust was all he needed to get fully seated inside me.

I was trying to go unnoticed in this whole process, but when he thrust in, I couldn't help but shout, "AAARGH! Easy!"

"Sorry," he grunted, but started thrusting hard nevertheless. He reached both hands under my ass, cupping my cheeks and using that leverage to push hard and fast. Because he wasn't supporting his weight with his arms, I felt for the first time his full upper body weight on top of me. I tried to work my hands in between us and put my palms on his chest. I pushed him up a bit, just to keep from feeling suffocated. He didn't seem to notice anything.

With every thrust he grunted and growled. Mercifully, it only lasted a minute or two. His grunts got higher and higher pitched and he even gave a few whines before speeding up and then holding deep.

No surprise, when he came he roared. That asshole roared right in my ear, too. I tried pushing up on his chest and turning my head away. It didn't phase him. A few more jerky thrusts and he finished cumming inside me.

He rolled off and panted. No "afterglow" this time, I guess. I lay there staring at the ceiling.

In between gasps, he tried to explain. "There was this customer today...(pant, pant)...she wanted to negotiate the price of her repair...(pant, pant, pant)...dressed real slutty, came on to me...(pant, pant). I've seen her type before. Leads you on and then leaves you hanging. (Deep breaths) I've seen guys fall for it, give ridiculous discounts and then try to score a date. I didn't believe her, but she kept trying and trying. Showed more and more skin, talked dirty. I called her bluff, invited her into my private office. She got pissed and just gave me her credit card." At this point he was almost laughing. "She shouted some crude accusations about my sexual preference and my potency while I rang her up. Anyways, that was right before my shift ended. She had me so worked up.."

I don't think he noticed I was crying until I started talking. I'm not sure when I even noticed that I was crying. I did that stupid thing where you try to talk like you aren't crying, and it just sounds pathetic. "Don't bother telling me why you fuck me. Just do what you have to so that I can keep up my side of the arrangement." I rolled off the bed and picked up my clothes from around the room.

He sat up and his voice got soft and apologetic. "Gina, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt..."

Stepping out of the room, I turned and spat back, "Don't flatter yourself that this has anything to do with you." I knew it had almost everything to do with him, but I didn't want to concede that much importance to him. Being naked didn't bother me as much as feeling naked.

*******

I got dressed, went downstairs and put the casserole in the oven. While it cooked, I worked on the laundry and dishes. I heard Andrew in the shower. When dinner was done, I put some on a plate for myself and took it up to my room. I opened my computer and started job-hunting, expanding my search to other cities. Fuck this.

I got a call from Moira, another waitress, begging me to cover her shift that night. Her boyfriend from out of town surprised her today, going away for the weekend, she'd cover two shifts for me later, blah, blah, blah. I told her I'd be happy to cover for her. I got dressed while I finished eating, and I headed downstairs, only to realize that my car was still at the restaurant after I went drinking last night. Shit! There was no way the bus would get me there in time.

I closed my eyes and growled in frustration. Turning towards the stairs, I trudged up to Andrew's room. He was just pulling on a clean shirt and fishing keys out of his overalls, which were still in a messy pile at the doorway.

"I picked up a shift at work. Can you drive me into town?" I was trying to pretend like there was nothing awkward about talking to him right now.

"Is your car OK?," he asked, not in a sassy way but with genuine concern. Playing along with my show.

"It's fine, it's just...at the restaurant. I was drinking with my coworkers last night, and..."

"Oh...OH." It seemed like my behavior last night made more sense to him now. "Sure, I've got to be at work by 6- what time do you need to be at the restaurant."

"The sooner the better."

"OK. Is dinner something I can take with me?" he asked, pulling on his pants.

I rolled my eyes and walked away, "yeah, I'll put something in a box for you."

*******

I got his dinner together just as he walked down. We left together and drove the most awkwardly silent trip into town that anyone has ever had.

"Thanks," I said, when we got to the restaurant.

"No problem," he said softly, and drove away.

I felt very self-conscious as I walked in, wondering it anyone could tell that the man who had just dropped me off at work had also fucked me twice since I left work yesterday evening. I knew that it was a ridiculous concern, but I just felt so...exposed. I felt...sick.