Ch. 02: When In California

[NOTE: this story is a "chapter two" to "Threshold." Like the first installment, there is some actual story before all the heavy breathing. If you need instant gratification, this bit isn't for you. If you haven't read "Threshold," don't worry - it's not necessary to get this one, though there may be a few spoilers…]

Rick's eyes popped open. Janie was still asleep, her naked form sprawled across the sheets. What woke him? He listened but heard nothing. He looked toward the window - there was the barest hint of predawn glow - and his vision started to spin.

He closed his eyes and memories swirled around him like lime in tequila. Janie was over. College buds over for Superbowl party. Beer flowed. Game was played. Porno watched. Two college buds went home, shared Janie with the third.

Rick sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. "Oh, shit!"

Janie didn't stir. Her breasts rose and fell with peaceful sleep, her breathing deep and even.

Rick blinked and squinted through the sleep in his eyes, then gently leaned over the sleeping dancer. He ran his finger down her side. He kissed her shoulder, then the small of her waist, then rise of her hip. The smell of sex was heavy enough to make it past morning-after breath.

Yup.

Last nights words echoed through his head. Janie's voice: "Are we still okay?" Rick's voice: "We're more than okay." But were they?

Rick eased back and silently rolled out of bed. A pair of cut-off sweatpants made him street legal and he stumbled out the bedroom door. He wasn't quite to the end of the hall when he paused, not sure he was ready to share space with his buddy.

Fuck it.

He ambled around the corner but Brian was gone. The blanket was folded, the pillow squared away and there was a note on top.

'Rick and Janie: You two are the most phenomenal people I know. Thank you for memories that will last a lifetime. No regrets. Brian.'

Rick set the note back on the pillow. Funny to hear that: 'no regrets' part, it was one of Rick's own sayings. He nodded and patted the note.

"No regrets, bro. No regrets."

Rick stumbled into the kitchen. He wanted to think about the memories, the associations that really would last a lifetime… but thinking was starting to hurt. As he passed the tapped-out keg, raw pain started displacing emotion. It was time for therapy.

To start the healing, the former linebacker fell back to processes tried and true. A giant mug of water, three Tylenol, a small Gatorade, toast, Tabasco with some tomato juice, bacon and eggs. On autopilot, breakfast almost seemed to make itself, though the sliding glass door was getting intolerably bright. Rick squinted past the breakfast bar. Who scheduled dawn this early anyway?

Over the sizzle of eggs, Rick could hear shuffling down the hall. A moment later, Janie appeared on the other side of the breakfast bar. She was holding up a blanket that covered much of her front and none of her rear. Her right nipple was poking out, lighting the way.

"Do I smell-"

"Yes, but I won't hold it against you." Rick shot her a grin.

"-Breakfast?"

Jane didn't try to answer as she shuffled around the bar and into the kitchen. She threw her arms around Rick, the blanket falling away. She squeezed tight and there was a tremble in her arms.

Rick moved the eggs off the heat, then knelt and picked up the blanket. He wrapped her in it like a giant cloak, then put his arms around her and pulled her in tight. Part of him couldn't ignore the naked woman pressed against him but most of him felt soft, welcoming warmth.

Her voice was a gravelly whisper. "Do you hate me?"

Rick lifted her chin and kissed her softly. "I never make eggs for people I hate."

She hugged him tighter. "Do you still love me?"

There were a thousand ways to answer. Rick ran his hand along her jaw and gently held her head in his hands. He kissed her forehead, one cheekbone, then the other… and caressed her lips with his own. "I still love you. I will always love you."

Janie held her hands together and Rick stepped away, putting the eggs back on the heat. A strange crooning sound started growing over the sizzle. Janie looked around, then realized it was coming from Rick:

"Ahhhhhhh-eeeeee-iiiiiiiiiiiii, will alwaaaaaaaaays love yooooooooooouuuu!"

Janie shuffled forward and wrapped Rick in another hug. As she squeezed him, she leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Remember, love, that the Bodyguard never actually had to sing anything."

"Oh. Right." Rick flipped the bacon. "Thank God."

###

After the Sunday night event, there were a million things to talk about. How did they feel? Was it as fun now as it was then? Did they do the right thing? But there was no time.

Janie was showered and out the door by 8, braving rush hour on the 405 North. More crazy than brave, really, but she had to swing by her apartment before heading to the Universal lot -- and being late was not an option.

She unlocked her silvery blue Defender, and Rick gave her a goose as she climbed into the Land Rover. She spun around in mock anger but couldn't carry it past her beaming smile.

Rick nodded. "We cool?"

"We're cool."

"Good. Love ya."

"Love you too, babe!"

Janie closed the door and Rick leaned on it.

"Any regrets?"

Janie shook her head. "None."

"Good. See you tonight."

The second the sex goddess was gone, Rick locked the condo and waded into Los Angeles traffic. Fortunately, his drive was a sanity-saving short jaunt to an office in the Wilshire district.

By the time the day was done, the saved sanity had been used up. Most of the stress came from helping LAPD officers fight through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and one of the subjects was a hostage negotiator. Half the time was used just getting the negotiator just to let it out instead of trying to deconstruct therapeutic technique. The other half the time was used explaining why Rick didn't become a hostage negotiator himself.

By six, Rick was ready to negotiate the 405 and that was it. By seven, it was dinner with Janie in a very quiet restaurant. So quiet that even whispered sex talk echoed like it was blasted through Peavey's cranked to "11."

By nine, it was drinks and pool at the "Chimneysweep." Rick still wanted to talk but he knew he'd analyze this thing right into the grave. Psychoanalysis came from the outside. From the inside it was called introspection, a healthy thing, but there was always that danger of sliding into rationalization and denial, then there was-

Fuck it.

Rick watched Janie line up her shot. It was a prime cleavage shot (and a vision of heaven shared by every surrounding guy, too). Then she ran the stick over her fingers and trousers were adjusted around the room. Rick just smiled.

"Tease."

"Maybe." Jenny took the shot. "Maybe not."

"Any regrets?"

"Nope. You?"

"No." Rick walked around the table and whispered into her ear. "I need you bad."

"Let's go!"

There was playful groping out to Rick's vintage '74 Bronco. It was chilly air by SoCal standards, cool enough to harden nipples. By the time they were in the cab, Rick was desperate to get her someplace with just enough shadow to not get arrested.

Rick pulled out and let the truck roll through the intersection. He had to be careful; full stops at a stop sign were against California state law.

Janie glanced at Rick like he had a fever. "It was red, dear. You don't have to stop at the red ones."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, optional. Don't you have any Midwest left in you?"

"When in California, Rick, do as the Romans do."

"There are Romans here?"

"Sure. They Rome here and they Rome there…"

"Ya know, I do feel a bit Roman…" Rick pulled out onto Ventura Boulevard. "I feel like Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus."

"Who?"

"Caligula."

"Of course." Janie half-smiled and looked out over the twinkling lights of the San Fernando Valley, porn capital of the world. "Well, this is certainly the place for it."

"I agree." Rick made a hard left into the Galleria's self-park structure.

"I didn't mean this place."

"Why not?"

Janie shrugged. "Okay. Why not."

Rick drove around level one. Eleven at night on Monday - there was almost nobody left from the mall, but there were still cars left from the 16-screen theater's late shows. The top level was out, the mall had a battery of surveillance cameras. On the first sub-level, they discovered skaters speeding down the ramp.

"Too bad… Go home?"

Janie shook her head. "After all this? No way. Isn't there another level down?"

"Dunno. It'd be risky."

"And…?"

"Kinky," Rick nodded. "I like it."

She got a devious grin. "I know."

A bicycle rent-a-cop was going the other way and they waved as they passed. The guard nodded and Rick continued down the bottom level. There was one ratty, empty car parked in the theatre corner, but on the far side, there was nobody, no cars, nothing but sodium lights and desert dust.

"Finally."

Rick pulled in a few steps from the corner staircase. Once the growling Bronco was shut off, a tinny silence filled the air. They could hear distant, occasional traffic, but for being in the middle of the city… they were alone.

Rick leaned over and caressed Janie's face. He gently pulled her over, his hand on her jaw.

"I like it when you touch me."

"I like to touch you."

Their lips met in the softest way, her lips opening, their tongues touching in the middle. Rick could feel himself getting hard, and he squeezed a handful of her short hair, pulling her closer. It was the extent of his dominant streak, but it gave Janie a jolt of excitement.

His hands wandered down her graceful neck. He caressed her shoulder and let his hands brush across her chest. Her nipples were hard enough to show through her shirt.

Janie cupped his hand in her own and guided him to her breast. He squeezed and she moaned inside their kiss. She cupped her other breast as they necked.

Rick let go and reached under her thin, tight shirt. It took his other hand to bunch it high enough to reach her bra, but their lips never parted. He found the front hook fastener. A moment later, her bra fell open and her golden globes sprang free.

They were a modest handful by porn standards but they were nicely rounded and beautifully perky. He couldn't resist taking a nipple in his mouth and flicking it. Janie pulled his head to her chest, then took off her bra without taking off her shirt. He almost pulled away to give her room, but she kept his lips on her tits as she did an escape trick worthy of Houdini.

She guided him from one nipple to the other, then pulled him off.

"I want you. Now. In my mouth."

That was what he liked to hear. "Groovy."

They'd done this before, done it in the cab usually, but this time she opened the door and jumped out. Rick bounded out of the lifted Bronco as she stretched - her shirt still lifted - her boobs magnificent even in the orange glow of parking lights. Well below the c-cup hang were loose, low-cut cargo pants. Her belly ring sparkled on a flat, muscular tummy.

Rick wanted to pull her in and kiss her all over again, but he crossed my arms instead. "What do you want?"

Janie looked at him and smiled. "I want to suck your cock."

It was good to be alive. "Are you a good little cocksucker?"

"I'm a very naughty little cocksucker."

"Naughty, eh?"

He pulled her closer to the stairwell and she sunk to her knees. She undid his button, unzipped his pants, and loosened them just enough for his cock to spring free.

It was two-hands long for her and she gave it a good squeeze. She dropped one hand to her nipples, and started a slow stroke as she started bobbing over the head. It felt fantastic, though Rick had long resigned himself that he was never going to be deep throated - he was a little too thick for that.

She started to pick up the pace but he shifted his hips, taking his shaft away from her lips. He grabbed the front of her shirt and she looked at him, uncertain of what he wanted.

"Hang on."

He drew her shirt over her head and pulled it off of her. Janie bit her lip as she watched him ball up her shirt. Her eyes were wide, her fingers caressing the edges of her boobs as Rick tossed the shirt toward the Bronco. He made a clean shot through the open window, keeping her shirt off the greasy floor - and putting it well out of reach. Janie's beautiful breasts were now deliciously vulnerable.

"Much better."

Janie shuddered as she took his cool wet cock in her mouth. She started bobbing and his shaft warmed right back up, harder than it was before.

He watched her, admiring the beauty of a prick sliding between her lips. Her tits jiggled underneath - free and uncluttered - bouncing to the rhythm of her mouth.

Rick saw motion by the door to the stairs. Before he could move, a tall black guy came through with a short Asian girl playfully hanging on his back. An instant later, they noticed Rick and the half-naked Janie.

The black guy realized they'd stumbled into something. His eyes swept down and up and back down again, locking on Janie's swaying boobs. "Oh, my God."

Janie froze, her hands reaching to cover her chest, but Rick gave a gentle nudge to the back of her head. She got the cue: keep sucking. Instead of covering her chest, Janie rolled her nipples and took the cock deeper into her mouth.

A beat later, the scene really sunk in to the new couple. "Oh, MY GOD!"

Rick flashed a smile. "How you doin'?"

"Whoops! Sorry!" The couple broke into giggles as the guy turned around. After a wave and a long, smiling look from the Asian girl, the couple disappeared back up the stairs.

The guests broke their rhythm, but having an audience shoved Rick to the brink. His balls tightened and Janie sensed it. She popped her lips off his shaft and started stroking him. She looked up at him with big, sexy eyes.

"Do you want me to swallow or do you want-"

Rick took over the stroking and came a second later, pumping a globbish spray across her nose and lips. Another stroke painted her left cheek, another stroke painted her right cheek. He barely had anything left for her forehead.

He staggered back, the orgasm more powerful than he could remember.

Janie licked her lips then broke into a giggle. "Oh, my God…"

He started to laugh along with her, and they finished the quote in unison. "…Oh, MY GOD!"

Janie was almost snarking, her shirt still baring her tits, cum glistening on her face. "God, that was great! What did they look like?"

They scrambled back into the Bronco as Rick described details.

Janie didn't reach for her shirt until they passed the rent-a-cop. They were still laughing as they pulled out of the structure and up to the Sepulveda light.

Rick noticed she was holding a wad of Kleenex, but seemed too distracted to wipe off the cum. He could see the red of the traffic light reflecting off patches of glistening semen.

He saw the wet reflections turn green and a second later he snapped his attention to the road. He had enough time to steal a glance, enough time to see Janie lost in some dreamy thought - the cum still there - and Rick smiled to himself.

Still no regrets.