Aces

"If you weren't an Ace, I wouldn't give you the time of day."

He turned his head to face her. That was an interesting thing to blurt out. "But I am."

"You are, so I'll give you a whole lot more than the time of day. I'll give you my pussy, as often as you want, or as often as it takes."

"Fair enough. So you won't enjoy it, you'll just give it up?"

"Is that a problem?"

He looked her over. Not too long ago he would have said it definitely was a problem. But he'd just gotten laid three times in five days, and a fourth was a sure thing, barring a giant meteor or zombie apocalypse. They were all meaningless, exactly what he hadn't wanted. It would take him a long time to assimilate that, but somewhere in the midst of all that pool activity, he'd come to accept it.

He could still pursue meaningful relationships. His status gave him a disadvantage there. No relationship he had could ever be fully private. And none could ever be exclusive, faithful, at least from his side. That would make it hard, really hard. But it gave him advantages as well, and something he had never had before. It gave him opportunities.

"I guess not." he said.

She got up, her body in motion even more elegant than its lines and curves at rest.

She leaned over his chair and gave him a peck on the cheek and a closeup view of those perfect tits hanging in front of his eyes. She wasn't showing them off. It was just a natural consequence of leaning down to kiss him. But of course, a girl knows exactly where every millimeter of her body is. What is hidden, what is revealed, and how. She knows exactly what she is doing and surely Jennifer had chosen to lean over to kiss him for exactly that effect. She still made it seem completely natural, no movement wasted, none unnecessary. That was the difference.

"I'll enjoy it at least a little." she said. "I really, really like sex."

"I'll enjoy it a fair amount myself." he said.

"You will. See you at dinner." she said, and walked toward the house. To do what, he had no idea, nor did he care.

At dinner, Jennifer appeared in the clothes she'd arrived in. Tight jeans and a fuzzy sweater that hinted at the shape and size of her breasts without quite letting anyone know for sure. Brian invited Charles to eat with them.

He'd started liking Charles. He was wickedly smart, was able to beat Ivan at chess almost half the time, and knew more about the world than anybody Brian had ever met.

"Of course, Brian. I am at your service."

"It wasn't an order, Charles, it was an invitation."

Charles' warm smile almost erased the world-weariness from his face, but couldn't fully smooth every wrinkle that recorded some long history of disappointments, horrors, and griefs. "In that case, I gladly accept. Thank you."

The three other girls had been sent packing.

They discovered that Jennifer could actually hold a conversation. They avoided deep topics, apparently none of them were in the mood for it. The chef, Alexander, was very, very good. He made fish that was like nothing Brian had ever tasted, some subtle blend of spices that seemed to be both original and very precisely designed to create an effect that was just amazing.

In between the fish and desert, Brian asked Ivan. "So what did you tell that redhead?"

"My friend, you do not believe that my natural charm and attractive looks can lure a woman to my bed?" He looked at Jennifer with a big grin.

She smiled at him. Throughout the conversation, he could tell that Jennifer did find him a bit charming. Ivan was like that. On the surface, he had nothing that anyone would think would attract a woman. But his bigger than life personality, his carefree attitude, his almost innocent forwardness, tended to get under people's skin. Brian had experienced it himself, and could believe that women could come to find him attractive despite themselves.

"Actually," Jennifer said, "Ya dumayu, ty khorosho ladish s'damami."

Ivan's eyes went wide, and his sardonic grin turned into a genuine, beaming smile. "Ty govorishʹ po russki?"

"Da" Jennifer said. "My mother's side of the family is from Petersbourg."

Ivan looked almost giddy. Brian looked at Jennifer, his face showing his confusion.

"I said that I suspect that he does well with the ladies. He asked if I speak Russian."

"I do not hold it against you that you come from the decadent city" Ivan said.

Jennifer retorted, "This from one of the Siberian savages." but she said it with a smile, and since it was in Russian, Ivan was too smitten to take insult.

Ivan promised, threatened actually, to bring her to his village and show her how real men treat a woman. She countered that it would take a whole village of such men to satisfy her.

They bantered some more in Russian, which Charles translated quietly in Brian's ear. Charles seemed to enjoy the bantering, and Brian was sure some of it was lost in the translation, but he got the gist of it. He found it entertaining, all the while wondering what other skills Charles had that he had not yet seen the need to demonstrate.

They were all laughing by the end of it. It was the kind of mutual ball busting that men like Ivan's people thought of as bonding, and Ivan was both impressed and thrilled that a woman could hold her own in it. They did seem to bond over it.

"So what lies did you tell that woman to get her to enjoy your company so much?" Jennifer asked after the laughter had died down. The question, and Ivan's answer were in English. Ivan got more serious, but he had a twinkle in his eye.

"I do not lie to beautiful woman. But some, they tell lies to themselves."

"And you suggested some lies she could tell herself, right?" Brian asked.

Ivan smiled. "Maybe my words are not so precise, perhaps leave implications not intended to be."

Jennifer laughed. "Just the right implications, Da?"

Ivan's smile took on an evil cast. "I cannot say, but I think her not quite words did speak for themselves, nyet?"

"She tells lies to you then as well." Jennifer said with a wink.

"Da. Most certainly. But her lies to me match my lies to myself, so we both leave happy."

"She didn't seem all that happy when she actually left." Brian said.

"Nyet. But she was happy until." Ivan said.

Dessert came, a kind of sandwich cake made of softened graham crackers with chocolate mousse between and on top of the layers. It was amazing. And it ended the conversation for a short time.

After dessert, Charles declared that he had some work to do before retiring for the night. Ivan said there was a movie he wished to watch. Brian looked at Jennifer, suddenly uncertain again. She nodded, and he stood and held her chair while she got up. "We're going to go fuck our brains out." she announced.

Brian flushed as the two men looked at him. Charles cracked a smile. Ivan gave him a leer and a thumbs up. Jennifer took his hand and led him toward the stairs.

Upstairs, she freshened up, then joined him in the bedroom. "Would you like me to strip myself, or would you like to?" she asked, standing in front of him.

"I want to." Brian said, and sat her on a sofa in the bedroom. He turned the lights low and put on some music. It wasn't for the romance. It was because he was tired, and it fit his mood. He hoped she liked it as well, but he was pretty sure that her mood wouldn't matter to her.

He sat next to her and kissed her neck. He didn't kiss her lips. He wanted to, but something said that this was a line he should not cross. He couldn't fathom why, why his subconscious thought that. But it did.

he slowly removed her clothing, kissing each newly exposed bit of perfect skin, savoring the sight, her scent, the tastes and textures of her skin against his fingers, his lips, his tongue.

He pulled up her sweater, kissing up her belly and swirling his tongue in her belly button. He revealed her breasts, and kissed there, lingered there for a long while. He opened her jeans and kissed the top of her smooth pubis. His lips followed the zipper down until it met the waistband of her low cut panties. He kissed around them as he slid her pants down, taking her leg in a hand and kissing down her thighs, her calves, her feet it as he went.

Then he stood, and held out his hand. He led her to the bed and turned down the covers before helping her into it on her back. He stood at the foot of the bed and took of his shoes and socks, then unbuttoned his shirt. He removed each piece of his clothing deliberately, but not slowly, not trying to put on a show. He enjoyed watching her watch him.

When he got his underwear off, he was at half mast. That surprised him, the afternoon in the sun must have taken more out of him than he thought. He crawled up onto the bed over her and kissed her chest and belly briefly, then looked in her eyes. He watched her face as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her panties.

He lowered them, kissing as he went. Over her mound, to the hollows of her thighs and her lips, then his tongue probed the top of her slit. He pulled her knees up and pushed the panties past them. He parted her knees with his hands, forcing the panties down to her ankles.

He saw golden skin blending smoothly to faintly ruddy lips, a narrow gash of shocking pink between. His eyes went to hers. She had a look of amused anticipation. He trailed his gaze down her body and back between her legs. His tongue followed and he flicked her clit. Then his mouth was over her and he was lapping up and down between her lips, tasting the tang of her juices just starting to flow, her scent wafting up to him.

"That feels nice." she said. He looked up at her, letting his tongue trail over her as he lifted his head. He smiled.

But something didn't seem right. "Whatever happens, don't lie to me." he said.

"I won't."

He stopped and crawled up over her, brought his face to hers, his dick hanging against her lips. Hanging. He wasn't hard even now. She felt it. He felt suddenly tired. "You said you wouldn't give me the time of day." he said.

"It's the truth. I wouldn't have before."

"Not good looking enough?"

"You're not a bad looking guy." He gave her a doubtful look. "I'm being honest. You're not.

"I won't lie, I date football players, basketball players, guys with 8 inch cocks. I'm not saying you're just as good looking as any of them. Though, to be really honest, you're better looking than some of them.

"But you do your best to not get noticed. I've seen you before, around school. You blend into the background. Not because you're that bland, but because you make it a point to do just that. You're like a chameleon, except instead of your skin it's your body language. You have developed the perfect camouflage. You're seen, but not noticed, You practically hypnotize people, or do some Jedi mind trick." she held a finger up in front of his face and mimicked Obi Wan Kenobi. "'I'm not here. You did not see me.' And they don't."

He laid down next to her, feeling worn out. The soft bed felt wonderful. He faced her, his head propped up on his arm. He understood what she said. He'd been aware of it, though not so explicitly, and he never knew his camouflage was so perfect. "But now that I'm an ace, I'm noticeable."

"Yes. But you were always an ace. You could have been noticeable any time, for other reasons. It's just that up until everything went to shit, the world had billions of them. Now you stand out."

"Impossible to go unnoticed." Brian said.

"No matter how hard you try. And here we are."

"Which is where? Settling for me because those jocks can't get you pregnant?"

"Not settling. I was with them because they could give me what I wanted. I'm here for the same reason."

He traced her breasts with his finger, then down her belly. Her legs were relaxed now, knees only a hands width apart. "So you don't care about any of them?"

"I do care, just not.... I guess I'm not into long term relationships."

"So you'd give a baby up for adoption?" He didn't know where that queston came from.

She was silent for a long time. Long enough that his finger stopped tracing the line where her lips met. Long enough that he never heard her say, quietly, almost too quietly to hear even if he was awake. "I don't know."

He was dreaming already. Dreaming of taking Abby to a movie, dropping her off at home, and feeling elated when she gave him a quick, delicate good night kiss outside the door.

...to be continued