Ann: A Love Story Ch. 96

Gary chuckled and said, "I'll say. It was like a scene out of the Blues Brothers. She was calling all of us up saying, 'We're getting the band back together.'"

"Oh my God, really?"

"Well, sort of," Geoff nodded. "When we got the invite, Tara thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to show people that I'm not the stuffed shirt they might think I am. Part of the reason my father didn't want me playing in a band was because he wanted everyone to have confidence in me. But Tara keeps telling me that this is who I am, and it's time for everyone to see that I'm not my Dad."

"You know, I think she's right," I grinned. "It's great to see you having fun. And frankly, to have that kind of talent and not use it... it's kind of a shame that you had to bottle it up. I just can't believe you're doing this though. How the hell did Tara even know she could make this happen?"

"She didn't at first. We didn't even know if we had a band yet. But she started calling, and... well, once she found out that everyone was interested in getting together, we ended up driving to Chicago for a weekend, since that's where everyone else still pretty much lives. So, we got together and we reminisced, and we laughed, and we caught up on each other's lives, and then... we jammed. And surprisingly, we sounded pretty damn good."

"It felt even better," Gary added.

"It did, didn't it?" Geoff laughed. "Tara asked at the end of the weekend if anyone was interested in playing a live gig. There was some skepticism, but she convinced them that she could find us a place to play, and she told them what she had in mind. Of course, it helped when she said that she and I would foot the bill."

"You did? I mean... you are?" I asked.

"It's no big deal, Neil. I'm having a blast. Anyway, Tara called Nancy at the plant to see if she could track down who was helping Ann plan the wedding to put our hat in the ring, and Nancy got her in contact with Tina. I think you can guess the rest."

"Yeah, I can."

"Any other questions?" he smirked.

"Yeah... where did you come up with the name for the group? That's not even how you spell it, is it? I thought it was spelled with a 'J'."

"In our defense, a lot of groups deliberately misspell their name," Gary replied. "Led Zeppelin, The Beatles... Def Leppard. I'm sure there are more."

Geoff grinned and said, "It had nothing to do with spelling, Neil. Gary's overanalyzing things like he always does. He's a CPA. The truth is we kind of modeled it after the Bee Gees. I heard once that they were going to call themselves the Brothers Gibb and they shortened it. I'm not sure if that's true or not. But I do know that I'm Geoff Beck and he's Gary Bowen, and our initials are G. B. That's where it came from. We just spelled it out like they do. After that, it sort of made sense to add the 'Heebee' part in front of it."

"Huh. That does make sense," I laughed. Sticking out my hand, I sighed, "Geoff, I can't thank you and Tara enough. You too, Gary. You've all made this an incredible night."

"I told you, we're having a blast. And the night isn't over yet. We're just getting started," he grinned as we shook. Playfully punching his buddy in the shoulder, he said, "Come on Gary. Let's play the next set!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The band played two more, each almost ninety minutes long. By then it was getting late and everyone knew the party was beginning to wind down. We'd had our cake, and announced to our guests that we'd be opening the presents in the next week so they wouldn't have to wait around for that. That left just a couple of things that needed to be done.

"Whoever thought of this was a genius!" I grinned to myself as I knelt down in front of Ann.

She was sitting provocatively on a chair placed in the middle of the dance floor, her right leg dangling over her left knee as she waited. My hands started at her ankle near the bracelet, massaging her leg, feeling the silkiness of her stocking as I slowly let my fingers move.

"Going to give me a foot massage later, baby?" she cooed, "Or are you thinking about what I might massage with my feet?"

I knew exactly what she meant, and even though I was the only one that heard her, I felt myself become flushed, thinking of her using those stocking-covered feet to rub my cock. I looked up into her twinkling eyes and she gave me a quick wink, the fire behind her irises showing. She was so hot and horny I was stunned she didn't exhale steam as she moved her leg off her knee, holding it up for me.

My fingers traced along her calf, gliding across her covered skin. I kept my touch light and she moaned as I made my way past her knee. My left hand found the outside of the garter that was circling her thigh. My right hand didn't stop, continuing on its path up her leg, underneath her short dress. She parted her thighs, her girlish giggle filling the huge hall as I threatened to touch her pussy. Throwing her head back, she closed her eyes, pretending that I'd done just that.

"AW... you're no fun!" she pretended to protest as I grabbed garter, pulling the elastic wide so I could lower it down that long, sexy limb.

"We're getting closer and closer to the fun," I grinned, eyeing the glimpse of thin, pale blue g-string that was covering her very wet pussy. The same g-string I'd gotten from Sarah, the exotic dancer that went by the name 'Tiffany', who had performed for both Ann and me during our respective pre-marriage send-off parties. In fact, it looked even wetter on Ann than when Sarah wore it for us.

She winked when she saw me eyeing the garment. "Yes, we are," she hissed.

With the garter removed, I reluctantly stood up, my back to the gang of eligible bachelors gathered behind me. The band counted down, a drum roll accompanying their chant as I twirled the garter around my finger. When they hit 'one' I spun around and threw it, smiling as I watched a couple of guys reach for it. But it was a hard throw, hitting my intended target right in the hand.

Mark held onto it like he was covering home and I'd thrown a strike on a relay throw from the outfield. The smirk on his face had me smiling. His girlfriend, Jill, began screaming in delight; the implications of him catching it not lost on her, and that had me laughing.

I'd singled Mark out because he was one of the reasons I was so happy. Yes, Matt had saved me, although his toast let me know what he thought of that notion. And perhaps he was right, to a point. But he'd still been the one to hold out his hand and lift me up when no one else would. That's why Matt was my best man... because he was my best friend.

Yet if Mark hadn't invited me to come up for the weekend, I never would have met Dawn. And as much as I ignored it, Jill and Mark had set up that 'chance' meeting. Sure, Dawn was their roommate, but they didn't have to introduce me to her they way they had. It was fate, but fate with a helping hand. That set the stage, like the first single in a rally that led to the team winning. And what I'd won was Ann's heart, because mine had been healed.

"Nice throw. You should come play softball with us sometime," he joked while I shook his hand for the camera.

"Maybe I will," I grinned.

With that out of the way, I helped Ann to her feet. She had Mindy get her bouquet, letting her play out the flower girl responsibilities to the very end.

"Can we have all of the eligible ladies come to the dance floor please?" Geoff announced, watching as several women moved toward where the chair had been.

Ann was standing next to me by the stage, and she looked over her shoulder, asking Geoff for the microphone. Taking it from him, she looked across the room to Dawn and said, "I'd like anyone that's engaged to join them."

Dawn pointed at herself in disbelief, making Ann smile as she nodded. For a moment, I thought Ann was going to do the same thing I'd done, singling out a person to aim at. Of course, tradition said that she was supposed to throw it over her head with her back to them, but I was supposed to do the same thing. At least I think. Regardless of how it was supposed to work, she had other ideas altogether.

Waiting for all the ladies to gather, I could see her counting in her head, nodding slightly when she finished.

"We're almost done, everyone. I promise," she grinned, her hand trembling as she held the microphone. "I know that I'm supposed to throw the bouquet now, and that tradition holds that whoever catches it will be the next person to get married. Obviously that's not really true, though. In fact, I imagine it's really rare that it ever happens that way.

"That seemed like a shame to me, because you're all my friends. I want each of you to find the love and happiness that I've found with Neil... not just one of you. So instead of throwing this bouquet, I'm going to give each of you a part of it and wish just that... that fate brings you someone special that you can't wait to wake up next to in the morning... and that you really can't wait to go to bed with at night."

Ann's statement brought giggles as she motioned for them to come forward, and one by one she'd pluck out a flower from the bouquet and hand it to one of her friends. It was like another receiving line, but with more hugs, less talk, and a few tears thrown in. When she finished, she leaned over to the microphone I was now holding.

"That's it, everyone. We're not throwing rice or birdseed because, well, I don't want to," she laughed. "Thank you all for coming. Neil and I love each and every one of you. If you're ever in West Virginia, please come see us!" Turning to me, she ran her tongue over her lips in the sexiest way imaginable. Never taking her eyes off me, she made one final announcement.

"Alex...if you can tear yourself away from Tina, I'd really appreciate it if you'd drive us to Fort Wayne now. I want to make love to my new husband. And then I want to 'you know what' his brains out!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ann and I stood outside the limo, a large crowd of gathering outside the hall to wave us off. We'd just run the gauntlet of people pretending to throw rice on us. We found it funny, ducking for no reason as we hurried though the crowd toward the car.

"Thanks again, everyone," she called out as she climbed into the limo. "I promise we'll be in touch!"

"Yes. We can't thank you all enough for coming," I nodded as I started to get in myself.

As I did, Mindy appeared by my side, ready to jump in with us. Dana took her by the hand and said, "I'm sorry sweetie. We're not going with Aunt Ann and Uncle Neil."

"Aw... I want to ride in the big car," she said, tearing up a little.

"Me too," Allison chimed in.

"Mindy, are those happy tears?" I asked, trying to cheer her up.

"No. I did those at the marriage, like you told me to," she sniffed, her wording making me grin.

Gracie squatted down next to Mindy so she could look her in the eye. "Mindy, I promise, when we get back to California, I'll make sure we take you and your sister home in a big car just like this one. Okay?"

"Really? You promise?"

"Uh-huh. Neil and Ann really need to go, but I always keep my promises."

"O...okay," she nodded. Giving us a little wave, she grinned. "Bye Aunt Ann... bye Uncle Neil."

"Goodbye, Mindy. Goodbye everyone. We love you all," Ann said as Alex closed the door.

Moments later, the big stretch limo pulled out of the parking lot, and she let out a long sigh. "You okay?" I asked, thinking she might be sad that we weren't going to see a lot of those people again for a long time.

She looked at the wedding ring adorning her finger, nestled closely against the engagement ring she'd worn for just a few months, the two creating a stunningly intricate band. Staring at it for a few moments, she sighed again and nodded. "Yes, baby. I've never been better in my life."

"Was it everything you dreamed it would be?" I asked as we made our way through town.

"It was so much better. And we still have tonight," she grinned as she leaned over to kiss me.

We held hands for the longest time, sitting silently in the back of the car. She had closed her eyes, resting them as I stared out the dark-tinted window to my right. The plowed cornfields were covered with a dusting of snow, although barely visible through the glass as we rushed by. The sunlight had faded, day quickly becoming dusk. As the back of the car darkened, she leaned into me, resting her head against my shoulder.

"Do you need to sleep for a while, babe?" I asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm fine."

"You sure? You seem tired."

"I'm just recharging, Neil. I actually feel really good considering everything. How about you? Are you tired?"

"Not really. I just figured since your eyes were closed that you needed to sleep."

She opened them slowly; her eyebrow arching a she smirked. "Have something on your mind, do you?" she asked, her voice in that low, sexy tone I found intoxicating.

I'd have had to be a moron to not know what she was insinuating, but I actually had something else on my mind. At least I did at the time. Looking at the pile of packages neatly stacked on the seat across from us, I wondered, "What's with those?"

"Those are presents, sweetie," she teased.

"Yeah, I can see that. Why are they with us? I thought we were opening presents tomorrow at your parents."

"We are. Those are ones we don't want to open in front of them."

I found myself raising my own eyebrow. "I know I'll probably regret asking this, but why not?"

"Because, I think the majority of them are things that we really wouldn't want our parents to see," she giggled.

"Huh? What, are they X-rated?"

"Most likely. It was Tina's idea. She said she wanted to bring some sexual energy to the reception."

"What in the world does that mean?"

"Well, I wasn't sure at first either. It turns out that she sent selected people a letter, asking them to consider bringing a second wedding gift that was a little more personal. She wanted it to be something from their life that they found sexually exciting."

"How did that add to the reception if we didn't open them there?"

"I think just those people knowing they brought something made a difference for them. Well, that and me changing my dress," she giggled.

"Well I can certainly see how the dress would have done it," I hissed, leering at her hot body through the almost transparent material. "So, those are all sex toys?"

"I really don't know. She said the letter was kind of vague. She wanted them to be able to interpret it however they wanted."

"Everybody did this?"

"No. Lord no. I told you, she sent letters to people she felt would actually appreciate the opportunity to share something along those lines, and that we'd appreciate getting them from. I love everyone that came to the wedding baby, but there are people I don't need to know things about, if you know what I mean."

I couldn't help but laugh. She was right. If Tina was going to ask people at the wedding to share part of their sexual lives in some way, there were certainly some that I'd rather not hear from. "Yeah, I definitely know what you mean. So, when are we going to open them? When we get to the hotel?"

"We can. Or we can do it now, if you want. I'm sure Tina would appreciate seeing what we got."

I glanced out the back window; the headlights of the car behind us were like faint dots, barely visible through the tinted glass. It was Tina, driving my Nissan so that Ann and I would have a car to drive back to the Franklin home the next day.

I'd wondered how we were going to return when we climbed into the limo at the reception hall, but Ann said Tina had that worked out. At first she was going to just drive over and pick us up when we were ready. But plans changed once I'd invited Alex, the driver, to come inside and join the reception. That gave him and Tina a chance to have their 'date.' And that brought about a change of plans.

"Tina's going to drive your car and leave it with us. She's spending the night with Alex, and we're going to pick her up on our way back to town tomorrow," Ann said when I'd quizzed her on how we were getting home.

Knowing Tina was behind us, it brought to mind her comment earlier at the reception. "Is this the surprise she was telling me about?" I wondered, absentmindedly saying it out loud for Ann to hear.

"I don't know. What are you talking about, baby?" she asked, running her hand back and forth along my inner thigh.

"Huh? Oh... at the reception Tina said she didn't want to miss something you were doing in the back. She said it was a surprise. Is that what this is all about?" I asked, waving at the presents on the other seat across from us.

Her eyes flashed, a wicked grin appearing on her face as she cupped my balls. "I think we should to open them now, Neil,"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Ann mentioned the letters Tina had sent out requesting more personal gifts were open for interpretation, she wasn't kidding. The dozen or so things we'd opened were as varied as I could imagine.

For instance, our friend Gloria from California gave us a set of red satin sheets for a king-sized bed, her note telling us she loved the way hers made her feel whenever she made love.

On the other end of the spectrum, Nancy gave us a set of individual nipple clamps, complete with weights that could be added to increase the tension. Her note said that they were something she found exhilarating during sex with the right man, but she was a little nervous giving them since she wasn't sure Ann would be into that sort of thing.

"If she only knew," she giggled, her hand toying with one of them.

Our friends Penny and Garrett gave Ann a set of anal beads, the note from Penny saying that Ann had opened up that part of her sexuality in a way she never thought possible. It was kind of a reciprocal gift, what with Ann giving her an anal plug for their anniversary the day we first met them.

There were a couple of dildos and vibrators, which I would have expected, and there was a cursory assortment of oils and lotions. But there were also some things that really amazed us.

She unwrapped a gift from Chad and Dana, carefully opening the end of the paper so she could neatly fold it when she was done, not wanting to make a mess. She'd done that with every present, like she was saving the paper for future use.

"Oh my God," she laughed as she peered into the end she'd opened, her hand going over her mouth.

"What is it?"

"It's the board game we played with them. They gave us our own!"

I laughed with her as she finished removing the paper. "They must really like that game," I said as I placed it on the floor and handed her another present.

Her eyes sparkling in the dim lights we'd turned on in the back of the limousine, she sighed. "I have to admit, I did too."

"Who's this one from," I asked as I handed her another, oddly not bothering to look at the tag myself.

"Todd and Gracie," she smiled. Moments later, we were staring at dozens of intimate pictures of the two of them making love on a large white rug in front of a roaring fireplace.

"I can't believe they gave us these," I whispered.

"I know. God, they look so in love. And Gracie is so hot!"

"So is Todd," I said, not finding it strange in the least that I was commenting on a handsome man fucking his alluring wife.

"OH LOOK! CUMSHOT!" she screamed in excitement. "Wow, Todd covered her face and her tits."

"Wait. Who the hell took the pictures?"

She flipped the last one over, looking at the stylish logo imprint on the back. "Black Rose Photography," she nodded. "Looks like we weren't the first ones Rose photographed having sex."

She handed me the next package, saying, "Here, this one's from Tina. You open it."

"Why me?"

"Because, I know what it is," she winked.