Zodiac Girls Ch. 07

Chapter 7: Cancer, Jace

Pure, thank you for the edit.

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Hard-shelled sympathetic Cancer

Who changes like a changeful season? Holds fast then lets go without a reason? Who is there to give adhesion? To Cancer?

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Jace relaxed, her shoulders on the soft pillow so that her head was raised a bit over her supine body. Glancing down at her naked form, she decided that she was all right. The stomach was suitably flat and her breasts were not sagging much, even when she was lying on her back. That was good.

She closed her eyes and moved her hands over her stomach, placing the palms on either side of her navel, fingers pointing downward. A thumb dipped inside, probing gently as her body quivered gently. One finger rimmed her bellybutton as the other hand moved down, over the rise and below. Feeling for the soft lips, driving a finger between them, Jace felt the wetness start to spread out.

It was the end of a long day, and she wanted this, needed it. And Craig was not back yet.

Her eyes closed, and her breathing was affected. Jace shifted on the bed, settling into a more comfortable position, bending her left leg at the knee, spreading her thighs. As the muscles relaxed, her senses became attuned to her fingers hovering down there. Each touch, each sensation became amplified.

Her fingers started to move in a rhythm as her brain played erotic scenarios. Each time she imagined a different scene. This time it was Craig, rough. The scene assaulted her senses.

Bending over me, his knees are placed on either side of my hips. The mattress dips under his weight. Staring into my eyes and playing with my nipples. Gently at first, then slowly pinching them. The nipples growing hard as he gets rougher with them.

Her hands moved to her nipples and started pinching them, squeezing her breasts, pressing them, until the dull pain registered in her brain, giving an edge to the pleasure.

His hard cock presses into me, just above my pussy lips, pushing into me as he moves back and forth. His face, a stoic mask, the eyes; boring into mine.

"You like that," he whispers; curt.

I moan, feel his cock against me.

Her fingers pressed against herself, flattened against her pubes. The hips moved to meet them; she shifted so that she could feel the pressure against her clit, just the right place. She moaned.

Craig moves forward, his dark brown hair falling onto his forehead; bends down and takes an erect nipple between his lips, first flicking his tongue across the hardened nub, then biting it; a short cry escapes from between my clenched teeth.

Jace wet her fingers with her saliva and spread it onto her nipple. The slick wetness seemed scandalously gratifying. She moved her nipple between her fingertips, pinching; and then held it between her long nails and pulled it out, away from her body.

His tongue sweeping across the tiny ridges around the nipple. Moving back and forth, the surface delicately rough.

Jace opened her hand and moved it across her breasts, the smoothly coarse skin of her palm slightly abrasive against her sensitive buds.

Craig's hand moving down to my pussy; searching, feeling, brushing, pressing, entering, marauding. The movement of the fingers is quick, sure, hard. Firm, steady progress, harsh and coarse movements.

Fingers flew against her cunt, compulsively pressing against her softness; the touch, hard and tense. Forceful strokes up and down, finding the entrance, plunging inside and out again.

Two fingers, now three moving inside me, thrusting in and out, tight against the walls. Frenzied, wild movements, almost hurting, bordering between pain and pleasure.

Jace's fingers drove in and out, three fingers moving hard. She clenched the walls around them, making herself as tight as possible. Diving inside her, fingers forcefully propelled; her brow furrowed and the veins in her neck standing out as she clenched her teeth, concentrating on the feelings exploding down there.

The tempo increased, built to an uncontrollable urge, rose up to almost intolerable limits... and then spilled out from Jace. Her body shuddered, out of control; the muscles went limp. Her fingers, still inside her, were covered in slick goo which oozed out as she withdrew them slowly. She brought them to her lips and sucked off her salty taste.

The eyes were closed, as her mind drifted to various things, coming back to centre on one thought. It was 5th, her birthday, and she was lying here fucking herself. Alone.

A tear escaped her wet lashes and made a track towards her ear, resting for a moment on her lobe before falling down onto the pillow.

Jace didn't want to cry. She had done it a lot for the past few days and was tired of it. The tears though, didn't seem to stop.

Her life had been going downhill for the past few months; since she had taken that new job, she thought. She hadn't wanted to, but Craig had made her do it. He had said it would be good for her career; though he had not forced her into it, Jace had joined the company to please him.

She went along with what he said most of the time. He was the strong one in their relationship, and Jace liked it that way. She needed someone to take care of her, guide her and support her. And Craig had done that for the past five years.

Except for the last few months. He seemed like a different person, caring and loving one moment, totally aloof the next. He had changed so much that now Jace wondered if she even knew him. It wasn't that he was rude or bad towards her, but he was indifferent; it was hard to handle.

Jace wondered if he was getting bored with her. She shrugged. He might be; it had been five years, four since they got married. Perhaps what they needed was something new in their relationship. As she lay there, Jace thought about what to do. Maybe she should spend more time with him, make him feel special, get something into their relationship – something romantic and loving. Yes, that's definitely what she would do.

-----

That night Craig came home to a spotlessly clean living room, cut flowers in the crystal vase, a mouth-watering aroma drifting out of the kitchen, and when he wandered in there, he saw Jace in a new dress; short, barely covering her thighs.

He stood in the doorway leaning against the frame, and looked at her. She was chopping the salad greens into a bowl while keeping an eye on something simmering in a pan. As he watched, she bent and stirred it. The dress hiked up, exposing her creamy thighs. He took a deep breath.

Jace turned and saw him standing there. His eyes moved up from where he had been staring, as she turned. She smiled.

He gave a rueful smile in return.

Moving over to him, she put her arms around his neck and gave him a light kiss. "How was the day?"

He shrugged. "It was okay."

"You're a little late." She tried too hard to keep out the accusing tone from her voice. As a result, it came out a little artificial.

He avoided her eyes. "Yes, had to work late to finish a presentation for tomorrow morning. It's not done yet..." he trailed off.

Jace pressed her lips together and fought the feeling of disappointment. "You brought it home?"

"Yes. Had to."

"Today?" Jace didn't mean to, but it burst out.

Craig looked at her. He was frowning. "What's wrong with today?"

Jace stared at him. What could she say? He had forgotten her birthday. For the first time in five years, he had not remembered and showered her with gifts first thing in the morning. She thought he would make it a special evening, but he had obviously forgotten.

"Nah, nothing," she mumbled and turned away, getting busy with the rest of the greens.

She heard a slap and when she turned, Craig was standing with his palm against his forehead. He had apparently smacked himself hard. The expression on his face was one of genuine contrition as he came towards her.

"Jace, sweetie, I'm so terribly sorry," he started. "I didn't mean to... I don't know how I could have forgotten. It must have been the work. I've been too busy. But still, nothing can excuse...." He stopped in front of Jace, and after a moment, put his arms around her and hugged her.

It was so comfortable and relaxing. She had missed this.

Jace didn't really mind that he had forgotten her birthday. It was not that special a day, but she missed the affection he used to lavish on her. The problem wasn't just the birthday, it was all these days when he seemed to forget that she was there and needed him.

They broke apart after a moment, and Jace saw the most remorseful expression on his face.

"It's okay Craig. Not the end of the world. It's just a birthday, nothing special," she hastened to reassure him. She didn't want him to feel too bad.

His look seemed to say that he knew it mattered to her. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay now," she said. "We'll just have a cosy dinner and spend the night together, cuddling up, and you can make it up to me."

She smiled up at him, but her smile faltered at the expression in his eyes. She knew what was coming before the words were out of his mouth.

"Jace, I can't. I have this important presentation tomorrow, and I need to prepare. I thought that I'd work all night into the early morning today, but now..." he shrugged helplessly, "I'm sorry." He sighed and moved his hand up to his temple, massaging his forehead. "We'll have a nice dinner, and I promise we'll celebrate sometime next week. Okay?"

Jace stood with her eyes on the second button of his shirt. She noticed that he was holding his breath for her answer. It was that important to him. She pushed down the feelings of hurt and disappointment. She didn't want to dissolve into a weeping, needing person right then, in front of him. Finally nodding her head in a yes, she went to resume her activities.

"Go and freshen up, dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes."

She heard him move, and then his arms encircled her from behind, coming to rest just under her breasts. A light squeeze and a small kiss on the side of her neck and he was gone.

Jace struggled with her tears. She was feeling really sorry for herself. She deserved a bit of pampering at least one day in a year, and here she was, masturbating alone, cleaning the place and cooking an elaborate dinner just to please her husband. And he'd not only forgot her special day but came home with work scheduled for the night and didn't even change his plans when he remembered.

Well. She couldn't do anything about it, so she might as well accept it and make the most of the dinner they were going to have together. With that thought in mind, she spent the next twenty minutes concentrating on making the food as perfect as possible.

As she emerged into the living room, the first thing she saw was the crystal vase of the red blooms, down on the floor. Craig was leaning over the table which was covered with papers. His attention on the work was so complete that he didn't look up when she approached him and stood beside the table, looking down at the back of his head.

"Craig?"

"Hmmm?" he muttered, obviously too engrossed.

"Dinner's ready."

There was no response. After a moment of standing there motionless, she succeeded in getting him to look up at her. She stood silently.

"Did you say something?" he asked.

"Yes. I said dinner's ready."

"Oh, okay. Just give me ten minutes. I'll finish this part and then take a break. I'm in the middle of something right now, sweetie." He immediately turned back to his work.

Fiery anger shot through Jace. She curled her fingers slowly into her palms, the nails digging painfully into the soft flesh as her fist tightened. Closing her eyes tightly, she clenched her jaw, took a deep, steadying breath and forced herself to relax.

She wondered why he had started working. Would a delay of twenty minutes in his precious work matter? Couldn't he at least have laid the table while she was doing everything else in there? And he was asking for a further ten minutes. She swallowed, trying to eat up the fury simmering within her.

"I'm laying the table, Craig. Come on when you're done."

There was a subdued "Uh-huh."

She wondered if he had heard.

Half an hour later, Jace sat at the table laden with all the dishes, her meal finished, sipping on a glass of water. Craig's place was as she had set it. Silver and the good crystal, plate and the napkin covering it as it had been when she started eating. Craig had not come.

Eventually, she tidied up the table, carried the leftover food into the kitchen and covered it up for Craig to have later. She peeked into the door of the living room and saw him as she had left him, poring over his papers and muttering something she couldn't make out. Standing there for a little while, she felt an overwhelming sadness wash over her. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, but she willed herself not to cry. The anger helped. After some time, she walked into their bedroom and fell onto the bed, face down. She heard the clock in the room outside chime three times before she finally fell asleep.

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The next morning she was up and away before Craig woke up. She was too upset to face him. By evening, she would be able to mask her disappointment and regret completely.

He called as she was in the elevator on the way to her office. She said that she was busy and would talk later. He launched into an explanation, but she cut him short and said she would talk to him in the evening. It wasn't pleasant being bitchy, but she felt raw and unloved.

Just some time, she told herself. That's all I need and I'll be okay.

In the afternoon, Craig called again. A minute into the conversation, Jace felt that something was coming. Sure enough, after apologising profusely for the night before, Craig hesitantly told her that the presentation had gone fabulously, and he had been picked to go out of town for some work related to it. He had to go this evening and would be back in two weeks. He even asked her if that would be okay.

A dry smile settled on her face, Jace wondered what would happen if she told him 'no.' But she couldn't. She murmured something; and after they ended the conversation, she disappeared into the ladies' room for a good cry.

She lectured herself about how she was trying to be supportive and that this was just a phase which was going to pass soon, and Craig would be back to the loving and caring guy he was before. Composing herself as much as possible, she went back to her workplace. She resolved to forget everything and concentrate on work.

As soon as she entered her cubicle, her friend Sheila popped her head over from the compartment by her side, and Jace found herself telling her everything. Tears trickled down her face in rivulets and she couldn't stop them. Sheila immediately came over to her, sat with her and listened. Everything came out – the frustration of the past few months, feeling abandoned and unloved, the exhausting work schedule, and the absolute loneliness she felt when she missed Craig even while he there with her physically.

"Why don't we go out for dinner today?" Sheila suggested. "Have a 'girl' evening. We might even chat up some guys and have fun. What say?"

Jace shook her head. "No, Sheila. I'm not up for it. I probably couldn't bear looking happy and normal for a whole evening. And in this dumb, depressed mood, I'll spoil your evening too."

"Okay, you're coming to my apartment then. For dinner."

As Jace started to make excuses, Sheila cut her off very firmly. "I'm not going to allow you to sit alone at home, moping. Just come with me. I'll make you a great meal. We'll have dinner, some girl talk and some office gossip. Then you can go back home, and you'll feel better. Guaranteed."

Jace allowed herself to be persuaded and as the day wore on, welcomed the evening. She hated spending many evenings alone.

Craig had left by the time she got home. She opened the empty house and decided to go to Sheila's as soon as she got a soothing bath. One extra minute in the house seemed like hell. She finished bathing and got ready quickly, taking some time on her appearance. A powder blue dress which swirled around her knees and simple gold earrings—that was the desired look, cool and casual. Half an hour after entering the house, she left.

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Sheila's apartment was illuminated with soft light falling in lazy puddles onto the rough-tiled floor. The profusion of greenery afforded dark shadows in corners. The mood was easy, and Jace relaxed as she let her head fall onto the back of the sofa. She felt a cool something touch her hand. Opening her eyes, she saw Sheila slipping a drink into her hand.

"What is it?" she asked, twisting the glass this way and that.

"Something cool. Non-alcoholic. I love it after a tiring day. Try it," Sheila said with a smile.

Jace took a sip. It was deliciously calming. The syrupy tart liquid slipped down her throat and worked its magic. By the time Jace had finished it, she felt wonderful and buoyed up. Her troubles seemed miles away.

"Dinner in five," Sheila called out from the kitchen.

Jace nodded her head; then realising that Sheila could not see her, laughed, and shouted out an acknowledgement.

Dinner was fabulous. Succulent meatballs in a spicy curry mopped up with large chunks of bread and accompanied with a salad dish which was sharply tangy with lemon juice liberally sprinkled. The after-dinner coffee was rich, creamy, sweet. Jace felt pleasantly drugged as she finished it.

The atmosphere, the wonderful food and the sugary coffee had made Jace so relaxed that she plopped down on the sofa and almost fell asleep as Sheila cleared the table.

Jace didn't notice when Sheila came and stood in front of her, watching the child-like woman who so attracted her. The shiny, shoulder-length brown hair fell over half her face, her coral lipsticked mouth was open just a bit. The light blue dress was stretched across her breasts, which Sheila thought were a little big in proportion to Jace's small frame; highly desirable. Thighs peeking out from where the dress had risen a bit, and dark shadows underneath drew Sheila's attention. The sleeping woman made one heart-stoppingly sexy picture.

Sheila resisted the urge to ravish Jace then and there. Jace was here to relax, not add another complication to her life. Sheila turned abruptly and switched on the TV, tuning in to some random program, preferring to watch Jace rather than the screen.

-----

Jace woke up from the lethargic state and blinked her eyes. Once. Twice. Focused on Sheila. Shaking her head, she tried to drive away the sleep and sat up. "God, I'm so sorry Sheila, I didn't mean to go to sleep like that on you. I'm just so..."

"It's okay, Jace," Sheila cut in. "You don't need to apologise. In fact I'm glad you could unwind enough to go to sleep here. I'm taking it as a compliment." She smiled.

Jace relaxed. She raised her arms and slid into a languid stretch before remembering Sheila and stopping in mid-action, glancing sideways at her.

Sheila grinned, easy with her. "Go on. It's okay."

A wide smile spilt over her face as she collapsed into a loose heap. "What's on TV?"

"Nothing special. A romantic movie."

"Watching it?"

"Not specially... I had switched on the TV and was flipping channels when I found it. It's just started."

Jace concentrated her attention on the movie, and before long they were both engrossed in the sweet, old black-and-white love story. Sheila got them both a drink at some time. The easy evening continued perfectly. As the movie wound down towards a bittersweet ending, Jace realised that she was snuggled up to Sheila, her head on the other woman's arm and Sheila's fingers brushing her breast lightly. The little caresses when Sheila moved were put down to coincidence at first, then to her overripe imagination. It had been ages since anybody had tried to seduce her. Her sexual life, the victim of busy schedules and snatched minutes here and there had no time for romance. To Jace, the present sensations felt good; her mind probably made the situation more than it was.