A Most Graceful Life Ch. 05

"I love that set. That may be my favorite of the whole day."

"Hmm," thought Grace, getting a playful look in her eye. "Is itreally your favorite? Or are you just humoring me? Perhaps I should check to see if you really mean it."

Just like that, she closed the distance between them, dipping her face down to his, and sneaking a hand up his leg before settling on his cock through the fabric.

"Mmm, Stephen, you are so hard right now!"

"Can you blame me?" He chuckled. "You've been trying on the sexiest lingerie I've ever seen for the past twenty minutes!"

"Why don't you let me take care of that?" She grinned.

For the next ten minutes, Grace focused on giving him a sensual, slobbery blow job. She put in every effort she could, including using plenty of saliva, an intense grip of her hand on his shaft, and intense eye contact to make the experience that much better. Stephen just relaxed and let her suck to her heart's content.

"I can't wait for you to make love to me in every piece of lingerie we got today," she moaned, before sliding his cock all the way back in her mouth.

Despite all his orgasms the past two days, Stephen quickly felt another one building. Being with Grace seemed to do wonders for his stamina, letting him orgasm several times a day. He wondered if she had anything to do with that, whether as a wish on her own or not. Either way, he felt another big orgasm right on the cusp of fruition.

Grace's slurping got louder as she sensed it as well, and right before he felt the first blast rocketing up his shaft, she deepthroated him, ensuring that every drop of cum would deposit straight into her stomach. She never missed a beat as he came intensely, feeling at least five or six powerful blasts shooting into her.

After his orgasm largely subsided, Grace casually cleaned him up with her tongue, making sure all his cum was inside her, and then tucked his rapidly deflating cock back inside his shorts.

"Bye, my perfect friend. See you soon," she cooed, as she pulled up his zipper. She then looked back up into Stephen's eyes before giving off the most adorable giggle.

"Is buying clothes with you always going to be this enjoyable?" Stephen chuckled.

She winked and said, "I guess you'll have to stick with me to find out!"

After leaving Victoria's Secret, Grace now had many options for lingerie, bras, and panties to last quite a while. In fact, Grace had built up a memory bank wardrobe that had enough combinations for hundreds of outfits. Both well satisfied with the results of the day, they began to head in the general direction of Stephen's parked car. Before they got there, something else caught Grace's attention.

"Wow! What is that place?" She asked, pointing over to the large area where the food court was located.

"Oh that? That's just the food court," answered Stephen, simply.

"Food court?! What's that?" She asked, excitedly.

"Well, just about every mall has one. They have a lot of different food options so you can get a bite to eat while you're here. Do you want to walk by and see the options?"

"Yes! Please, can we?" She looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

Stephen chuckled, "Okay, okay, let's head over."

Grace's eyes were as wide as can be as she took in every option available at the food court. Stephen had to chuckle at her adorable naivety, especially as they walked past each store front.

"You got Chinese food right here, sub sandwiches at this one, burgers at the one on the corner. Oh, and really great cookies at this one to the left!" He said, pointing out each one.

"What is Chinese food?" She asked, staring at the sign for the Panda Express they had just walked by.

"Something that you have to experience. It'll be the best way to describe it," Stephen grinned.

They walked up in line and ordered the Beijing Beef and the Sweetfire Chicken to split, along with rice and their fortune cookies. Taking a seat, Stephen watched as Grace used her fork to take a piece of the chicken.

Her eyes closed almost immediately, savoring the flavor of the bite, "Ohh, Stephen, that's so good!"

"It's one of my favorites here. I get it every time!"

"Let me try the beef next," she said, stabbing a piece of the other entree. "Oh my," she said, giving a little moan. "I think I may like that one just as much!"

"You really were made to suit me, especially if you like my two favorite options at Panda Express," he laughed.

"Of course I was," she beamed with a smile. "It all comes with the territory of loving you," she bit into another piece of chicken forcefully as if to emphasize her point.

Stephen smiled while watching her and then toyed her words over in his head little by little. Grace had already told him several times that she loved him. It wasn't hard to tell that she meant it, especially by the look in her eyes whenever they were intimate. He was even sure himself that he was falling in love with her. After all, what wasn't there to love about Grace?

Yet one thing did trouble him slightly, especially when he really thought it. Stephen was falling in love with Grace of his own free will. Could she exactly say the same? Did she love him because the magic compelled her to? Does she have no other option? Is it the genie part of Grace that loves him, or is it the "Grace" part of her that loves him? He was beginning to make the distinction between Grace the genie and Grace the woman.

Did she? Was she able to make the same distinction?

Or was it only Grace the genie that loved him? Because she was compelled to due to her status as a genie companion, with no free will involved. If that was the case, it was troubling for him. He didn't want someone to have to be forced to be with him. Even though up until Grace showed up he had never had much luck with the opposite sex, he wanted to be with someone who truly, genuinely wanted to be with him. The thought of having Grace as little more than a slave for the rest of his life was a little distasteful. But how could he broach the subject with her?

"Grace?"

"Yes, babe?"

"I have a question. About your powers," he said, sheepishly, running his hands through his hair.

"Oh? What about?"

"This is kind of hard for me to say," he started, turning a bit red in the face. "You've been saying you love me lately."

"Yes, I have," replied Grace, assuming a dreamy smile on her face.

"Yeah, about that. How do you know?" He asked, watching her smile turn to confusion for a moment.

"A genie just knows these things, Stephen. I know everything about you because I was designed to be your dream woman. There is no better man in the entire universe than you are and you are all mine. How could I not love you? It's my entire purpose to love you."

"Yeah, but does the genie part of you love me? Or does Grace love me?" He asked the question that had most been on his mind.

Grace just blinked a few times, before giving a slight frown, "I'm not sure what you mean?"

Stephen opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. He needed a way to phrase what he was thinking, but was having trouble forming the words.

Grace reached out to grasp his hand gently, "What's on your mind, babe?"

"I'm just... worried, Grace," he said finally.

"Worried?"

"Yeah, I'm worried. What if it's just Grace the genie who loves me? Not Grace the woman?"

She smiled gently, "I'm still a little confused on what you mean by that."

"I don't know if I can properly put it into words," he said, trying to think of the correct wording.

"Do you want me to look into your mind? To see what you are really thinking?" She offered.

"No," he shook his head. "Maybe I'm just being a little crazy."

Grace just smiled gently, never taking her hand off his. She was so perfect for him. Did it really matter right this moment if there was a distinction between Grace the woman and Grace the genie? Was he crazy to think that there should even be a distinction in the first place? Although it slightly pained him to know there might not be, it was still too early to see how this might develop. How Grace might continue to develop. He had barely known her more than twenty four hours, so perhaps he should just wait a little longer, and see what happens.

"Stephen, are you sure you're okay?" Grace looked at him worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah I think so-,"

"Hey WILLOW!"

The yelling of his name from several feet away interrupted his words, causing him to seek the owner of the voice. He groaned when he realized exactly who it was.

Ram Doyle was walking towards his table, with his chief crony Jake Brady, who had practically been Ram's shadow for the past four years. The look on Ram's face, and the sneer he was wearing, told Stephen that this wasn't bound to end well.

"What are you doing here, dork? They don't have any really big & tall stores at this mall," Ram laughed, gesturing to Stephen's stomach.

"Knock it off, Ram," said Stephen, finding a little bit of steel in his voice. "Can't you see we're just having a quiet lunch?" Stephen gestured towards Grace, who was looking at Ram with steely determination.

"Why would I give a fuck about that?" Ram started, before turning to look at Grace. He caught himself just as he took in her features, with his mouth dropping slightly at seeing her beauty. Grace for her part put on a great show, giving a warm smile and reaching back out to Stephen's hand to caress it.

"And you are?" Ram choked out, checking Grace out blatantly.

"Hi! I'm Grace. I'm Stephen's girlfriend," she said, while beaming with a smile.

"No way," mouthed Jake Brady, as Ram stuttered to find the right words.

"Girlfriend? Who's girlfriend? Surely not his," said Ram, pointing a finger back at Stephen.

"Of course his girlfriend," grinned Grace. "Why else would I be sitting here?"

Ram just looked back and forth between Grace and Stephen, the disbelief palpable from the look on his face.

"Oh Stephen, try another bite of this chicken," grinned Grace, with a little twinkle in her eye. She used her fork to grab another piece, and her hand reached out to drop it straight into his mouth. Stephen tried not to laugh, knowing exactly what she was doing, and he silently thanked her for it.

"Wait a second," said Ram as he recovered from his initial shock, while getting an evil look in his eyes. "You just asked out Abby Cutler two days ago. Where was your girlfriend then, huh?"

"Yes, we only started seeing each other yesterday," giggled Grace. "It only took me a few hours to work up the courage to ask him to be my boyfriend. How could I not, he's such a catch!"

Ram's evil leer rapidly deflated, as his tactic to call him out clearly failed.

"Maybe we should just go," said Jake Brady, quietly, to the side of Ram.

"No, screw that!" Ram said, before taking the empty chair at the table and sitting on it, while scooting close to Grace. "Sorry, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. My name is Ram. Have you been in town long? I've never seen you before."

"Nice to meet you, Ram! But do you think you could leave us be for a little while? You see, Stephen and I were having an important discussion and you kind of ruined it," Grace made an exaggerated frowning face to emphasize her point.

"Important discussion huh?" He laughed. "About how his baby dick couldn't satisfy anyone? I've seen him in the locker room before, and I know."

"Quite the opposite actually," Grace recovered. "I was asking him just how he keeps being able to give me multiple orgasms with such little effort. He's so talented in the bedroom. I'm so lucky," Grace shot Stephen another dreamy smile.

"What the hell," said Ram, looking back in disbelief.

"I just wish I could make him cum faster. He has such great stamina," continued Grace, really hamming it up for their audience. "I've heard from the other girls that you're a minute man, Ram. Do you think you could give us some pointers for having quicker orgasms?"

Ram was left practically sputtering as the blood started to drain from his face, "B-b-but who told you that?!"

"Word gets around quick with us girls, hun," said Grace, giving him a condescending smile.

"Yikes, what a drag, dude," said Jake, stepping a foot back from Ram.

"What? It's not true!" yelled Ram, standing back up. "Fuck this, we're out of here."

"Bye Ram! Nice to meet you," Grace spoke up, giving him a wave.

"This isn't over, Willow!" He yelled back.

"Good seeing you, Ram!" Stephen shouted.

About as soon as he was out of eyesight, both Grace and Stephen doubled over in laughter. Stephen felt tears of laughter forming as mentally replayed that interaction.

"Grace! That was incredible!" He beamed. "I've been wanting for so long for someone to put him in his place. You're amazing!"

"His opinion of himself was just a little too high!" giggled Grace. "Plus I got really annoyed when he started to hit on me in front of you."

"Was that true? About the minute man thing?"

Grace nodded with a smirk, "Unfortunately for him, yes. Wasn't hard to find out. He's very self-conscious about it. I guess several of the girls he's been with have told him about it and refuse to sleep with him again because of his lack of staying power."

"Oh my God, that's hilarious!" Stephen laughed.

"Thank you, thank you," Grace bowed, playfully.

They finished their meal shortly after that, while still laughing about the interaction with Ram. After leaving the mall, Stephen drove them to the watchmaker to see if he could get the replacement part. Luckily, the watchmaker was able to help him out with a replacement gear train from a spare watch he had lying around. Stephen was very excited to take it back and see if he could finally get the old pocket watch running again.

Before he knew it though, it was time for him to be getting to work. Putting on his work colors, he turned to look at Grace when it was time to leave.

"Do you think you could come with me? Maybe turn invisible for me so we can talk?"

Grace beamed, "Of course, Stephen!"

His night at work was largely uneventful. The store usually was on Tuesday nights. Unfortunately, this wasn't his night to work with Miguel, and he worked with another one of the older guys, Art. Yet, he was thankful that Abby wasn't there either, not really wanting to confront that mess just now. Without any privacy on his own part, he mostly just communicated telepathically with Grace, except for one portion when he was in the break room on his own, and she magically appeared in his lap with a surprised smile. They both got a good chuckle out of that one. At one point, he even showed Grace where he had found her portal, down in the deep gully next to the store. She could only wonder how it could have gotten down there.

At the end of the night, Stephen helped to close up the store with the other employees. On his way home, Grace magically appeared in the passenger seat.

"There you are," he chuckled, casting a sideways glance at her.

"You know, I kind of like watching you work," she said, coyly. "You get all serious, and concentrated, and I have to be honest... it's really sexy."

Stephen chuckled, "You find everything I do sexy."

"This is true," Grace giggled.

When they got home, they were confronted by a quiet house again. The twins were already in their room, and his mother was asleep as well. Looking in the refrigerator for some leftovers, Stephen found a plate of chicken that his mother had made earlier in the evening.

"Are you as hungry as I am, Grace?"

She nodded, "Definitely!"

"Why don't I get this chicken ready? If you want to wait in my room, I'll bring up everything so we can eat a quiet dinner."

"Okay, I'll be waiting, babe. Don't take too long," she winked, before slipping into the hallway.

Stephen just smiled and shook his head, as he started to microwave the food and find some forks and napkins. Grace could find a way to make just about anything sexy. It was just who she was. But then again, she was designed for him. And here, on the second day that he had known her, he was starting to understand that Grace's effect on him went far beyond the sexual realm.

Even just today, he never would have been able to stand up to Ram if not for Grace. Just her presence alone was able to give him the backbone he needed to stand his ground. She was giving him back his self-confidence, even if it was a little at a time.

Yet, there were still things on his mind, and conscious, that would require more time to heal. The pain with his cousin, Danny, was still somewhat raw. As was the missing link that was his father. As Stephen put together the food and took it back to his room, his demeanor started to sour, being reminded of all the things that still caused him pain.

As soon as he entered his room, Grace had already changed, assuming the simple nighttime outfit of her white tank top and pink panties that made her look delectable.

"Finally, I'm so hungry!" She grinned, watching him bring in the plate of chicken breasts.

"Well, here you go," Stephen smiled weakly.

Luckily, Grace didn't miss much, and seemed to sense the change in his mood. As he set the plate down, she came to his side.

"Hey," she started, catching his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," he said, dismissively, waiving his hand.

"Stephen, it's okay. You can tell me."

"I'm okay, I promise." He gave his best 'I'm fine' smile to her, but she knew better. Or perhaps she sensed better.

"Did you forget I can see into your mind, silly?" Grace smiled. "You can tell me. I'm here for you."

Stephen took a long sigh, and then finally looked up at her, realizing he wasn't going to win this one. Perhaps it was time to tell Grace.

"It's just, I was thinking about something. Well, someone just a little earlier. Something that I blame myself for and the pain is still raw."

Grace just listened as he spoke, letting him get it all out in his own pace.

"I used to have a cousin, Danny. He was the son of my mom's sister, Linda. We were tight, very close. Practically brothers. Grew up together, did everything together. During the summers growing up, he'd come over and stay for a couple weeks at a time and we would do so many fun things. One time in particular, I remember we started our own radio station," Stephen chuckled at the memory. "Not a real one, of course. But we acted like DJs and would use our microphone in some random chat room and play the biggest hits of the time. We were always doing stupid stuff like that."

"Sounds like you guys were a lot of fun," smiled Grace.

"We always found a way to have a good time. Perhaps that's where it went wrong," said Stephen, finding a spot on the ground to stare at as he spoke. "A couple months ago, we had this little get together for a few friends. Nothing huge, just like ten of us. We had some whiskey, but only a small amount that someone lifted from their dad's cupboard. Enough to get us all buzzed but we soon ran out."

"Now, one of our friends, Rob, had a fake ID and there was a gas station not far from we were, so him and Danny hopped in the car to go get some more alcohol. I knew that Danny was buzzed, but Rob was practically staggering as he got in his car. I asked them not to go, but they assured me they'd be fine. They weren't more than half a mile down the road when they crashed into a tree. Both of them died."

Stephen looked down, crestfallen, remembering the scenes of that night. The wreck of the car. The flashing lights of the ambulance. The hysterical scream of his Aunt Linda.

"I just go back and forth in my head all the time. What if I had just tried a little harder. Would they have gone? Would they both be dead now? Would I have lost my best friend?" Stephen sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

Grace wrapped her arms around him wordlessly, holding him to her in any effort to remove some of the pain. He buried his face into her light brown hair, not only because her scent was comforting but to hide the tracks of his tears.