American Lavender

"He killed Peter."

Julia nodded. "Car accident on the way to the mansion on the big night. At least the cops called it an accident. He blew a tire on the seaside highway and his car broke through the guardrail and went down the embankment. Rumor is Mr. Farnsworth paid someone to shoot out his tire, but..."

"It was never proven."

"They never even tried to prove it. Of course when Penny found out about the 'accident', she was sure her father was behind it. When he gave her the news, she went at him with a softball bat and he had her arrested and institutionalized."

"Good heavens! I hope she wasn't stuck in there too long!"

"She wasn't, but not for the reason you're hoping for, Tom. She slit her wrists in the sanitarium."

I gazed out at the water, speechless for a bit. "And you knew all this growing up?"

"Heard it, didn't believe it, not until I came to work here," Julia said. "It was an abandoned mansion, of course people were going to have crazy stories about it. But after that first weekend, and the stories the couple staying in that room had...well, I hate to say it, but it fits! That poor girl is still waiting for Peter to come make love to her."

"Crazy is right," I said. "But I believe it now."

"Tom, could I ask...did she actually..."

"Yes," I said. "And she didn't realize I wasn't Peter until she was nearly done with it." I laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all. "God knows what she'll do if she comes back tonight and finds me there again instead of Peter."

"Oh, Tom, I can't allow you to stay in that room again!" Julia said.

"Have you asked Renee about making a switch?"

"Yes," she asked. "I'm afraid there are no other vacancies, Tom, but I've got another idea. You can stay in my room."

At last I allowed myself a look down at Julia's body, and I liked what I saw a great deal. But still..."Are you sure, Julia?"

"It's the least I can do after letting that jerk Steve put you in that room in the first place. Just...let's not tell Renee about it, okay?"

I couldn't deny the appeal of it all, and from the look on her face Julia felt the same. "Okay," I said with an agreeable smile. "Thank you, Julia."

"Great!" she said. "Well, I'd better get back and change. Back to work."

"I'm sorry I ate up all your time for going in the water," I said.

"Oh, no problem," she said, and she was off back up the steps.

Since Julia had already told me there were no other rooms available, I opted not to discuss the subject at all with Renee when I caught up with her that afternoon. I could see she was concerned as she asked me how my night was, so I did my best to set her mind at ease. "It was fine," I said. "I don't believe in ghost stories any more than you do, you know."

"I figured you were too sensible to worry about that," she said. "Still, it was a really disrespectful thing for Steve to do all the same. I did have a word with him on that, for what it's worth."

"Well, thanks," I said. "I don't suppose it did any good."

"Knowing him? Yeah, he's probably delighted to think it got under your skin somehow. I'll be sure to let him know it didn't!"

"Thanks," I said. Unsure what else I might have to say to my old friend on such a private topic, I added, "Listen, if you want to talk about things..."

"I'll keep that in mind, Tom," she said. "Thanks. For now, just, thank you for not saying you told me so about him."

"Did I ever, though?" I couldn't recall ever letting her know what I really thought about him.

"Not in so many words," she admitted. "But I was always aware you didn't like him."

"True enough, I didn't," I confessed. "Just, I'm here if you want me, okay?"

"Of course," she said. "Oh, you should probably tell Julia there were no problems with the room. I think she was genuinely scared for you!"

"I saw her at lunchtime, didn't she tell you? Down on the beach?"

"Oh, okay," she said. "No, she didn't mention it. Funny, I don't think I've ever heard of her going there on her lunchbreak before. I always tell the staff, it's fine with me if they want to go play in the water even. But Julia never has. I can just imagine what a fish out of water she was in her work clothes, too!"

I laughed along with Renee and decided I'd best keep the whole thing to myself. All afternoon I'd been telling myself not to get carried away -- Julia did not greet me in her swimsuit just to flirt with me! But what if she had?

That evening, I found out in no uncertain terms.

It started innocently enough when she found me in the lounge and joined me for a drink while we waited for the coast to clear. "I do hope I won't get you in any trouble if we get caught in your room?"

"Guests are allowed," Julia said. "It's just that then I'd have to come clean to Renee about Penny in your room."

"As would I," I said, and I told her about my conversation with Renee that afternoon.

"Thank you for not telling her," Julia said. "I really don't want to worry her when things are already getting so uncomfortable with Steve. She's got enough on her plate."

We ended up talking through another round of drinks, learning more about one another (she was particularly delighted to hear some of my stories of Renee back in the day), and it was a decent hour for turning in by the time she accompanied me up to the Lavender room to collect a change of clothes for tomorrow. Only then did it hit me, and I let out an embarrassed chuckle as I realized my predicament.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't have any pajamas," I said. "If you'd rather I stay here after all..."

"Absolutely not!" she said. "All the more reason why you shouldn't sleep alone here. Listen, I know it might feel silly, but you can borrow one of my nightgowns if that's okay?"

I couldn't help laughing. "Maybe Renee told you, I'm not big on gender stereotypes anyway, huh?"

"Yes! Is it true you majored in women's studies?"

"Minored in it, one of three men in our class who did," I said. "Sure, if your nightgown'll fit me, that'll be fine."

She looked more impressed with me than ever, and guided me back downstairs to the basement, where no one saw us enter her room together.

It was a small and crowded room, but it looked a lot homier than hotel rooms usually do. "Cozy," I said, enjoying a look around at the books, DVDs, and the bit of mess here and there that reminded us that it was someone's home.

"Thanks," she said, rifling through her dresser drawer. "I like it well enough." She drew out two nightgowns, one blue and white and one pink and white, and she handed me the former. "I figure even you have your limits when it comes to pink, huh?"

"I suppose so," I said, accepting the blue one. "Thanks."

I stepped into the bathroom to change. The nightgown was a bit tight on me and I couldn't really bring myself to look in the mirror, but my modesty was preserved and I had a safe place to sleep. I could only hope I didn't get hard, as there'd be no hiding that.

Julia, who had put on the pink nightgown by then, had the decency to only chuckle a bit when she saw me. "Oh good, it fits," she said.

"Thanks again," I said. "I know this is a bit awkward."

"Tom, you're more than welcome here!" she said. "Honest! Ready for bed?"

"I guess so," I said. "Apologies in advance if I snore."

"I've got earplugs somewhere," she said. "But I'll live dangerously for now." She pulled back the covers and got in on the right-hand side. I took the left without comment.

It was fairly late, I'd had a few drinks, and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Usually the double whammy of an unfamiliar bed and sharing the bed with a woman for the first time would have had me staring at the ceiling for hours. Not this time. I don't even recall lying awake at all before I dropped off.

But maybe that's just because of what happened next.

I was shaken awake. My first thought was that Penny had found me again, but I had just enough time to break out in a cold sweat before I realized she was nowhere to be seen or felt. Next I figured it was an earthquake, but as the room came into focus I realized nothing else was shaking -- only the bed. It took me another moment to remember I wasn't alone, and I looked over to see if Julia could feel it too. I was still recovering from my initial panic, so it took me just a bit longer than it should have to register what I saw and heard: Julia surely could feel the shaking, because she was causing it. She had the covers pulled up to preserve her modesty, but she had both hands under the covers and there was no mistaking where they were or what they were doing.

"Ub!" I couldn't quite keep my surprise to myself. I whipped my head around, but the damage was done and I felt the shaking stop.

"Oh my God, Tom, I woke you up! I'm sorry! And so embarrassed, but it's my fault!"

"My apologies to you!" I turned back around, figuring the secret was out anyway. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"I'm really sorry, Tom, I know this was totally inappropriate of me. It's just that you just look so adorable in your nightgown -- my nightgown, I mean -- and thinking of what brought you here in the first place..."

"You're getting yourself off on me being terrorized last night?" I couldn't resist.

"I'm an evil person, aren't I?" Julia confessed. "It's just, the stories I've heard, that Penny is an absolute tigress with the men she haunts up there...might I ask if it's true, Tom?"

"Well," I mused. "She was energetic about it, that's for sure. Even seemed like a pleasant dream until she realized I wasn't Peter."

"That's the kind of dream I could use," Julia said. "I hope you don't mind my saying that."

"I don't," I said. "I hope you don't mind my saying you looked great in that swimsuit today."

"You didn't even look below my neck!"

"It's called being a gentleman. But believe me, I noticed the rest!" I propped myself up on my elbow. "I'd welcome another look, if you want to go back there tomorrow."

"Why wait that long?" She pulled back the covers and stood up. "Interested in some fun with someone who knows you're not Peter already?" she asked, her hands poised to pull her nightgown off.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Would I have put on that show at lunch today if I were?"

"Good point," and I peeled back the sheets to show my nightgown was sporting a teepee down below.

Julia laughed. "That's what I was hoping for!" And she pulled her nightgown up over her head.

I may have managed to resist gawking at her on the beach, but I had no such qualms now as her shapely thighs came into view, followed by an elegant jet-black triangle and a pleasantly curvy belly, and finally revealing her small, pert breasts with big nipples -- my favorite combination.

Tossing her nightgown aside, she gave me a shy grin.

"You're beautiful," I whispered, and I climbed out of bed and put my arms around her. "I wouldn't want you to catch a chill in the air conditioning, though."

"How thoughtful of you!" she squealed, and I felt her reaching under my nightgown and wrapping her fingers around my hardness.

Pulling back a bit, I ran both my hands lightly over her breasts and teased her nipples, which were hard to the touch. This brought a gasp of joy from her. "Like that, do you?"

"I wish my nipples weren't so fat, but they are really sensitive at least."

"Fat?" I asked. "No, robust!" I leaned over and kissed one gently, drawing an even more intense moan from her.

"Okay, at a time like this I love them," she said. "It's just, they're so hard to hide sometimes."

"Then I hope I can make it worth the trouble!" I said, straightening back up and raising my arms so she could pull my nightgown off, which she very eagerly did. "Hope you like the view as much as I do," I said.

"I love it!" But she paused to admire me for only a brief moment before throwing herself back into my arms. "It was so hard to keep my hands to myself tonight!" she whispered in my ear.

"So glad you shook me awake, then," I replied, helping myself to my first gentle caresses in her bush, which was damp to the touch. "My, you are ready to go, aren't you?"

"Oooh, that tickles!" she squealed. I started to pull my hand away, but she clamped her hand over it. "I didn't say stop!" So I more than happily resumed letting my fingers frolic through her bush and went back to kissing her breasts. "Onhhhh, more of that!" she ordered, and I happily obliged.

I was more than willing to tickle her pussy all night, but it was only another couple of minutes before she took my cock in both hands and guided me effortlessly inside her. "Couldn't go another minute without that!" she proclaimed with a grin as I lay back on her pillows, and she set about grinding into me in a beautiful rhythm.

Julia had already reminded me of one wonderful thing I missed about American women in my years overseas, and that was her beautiful natural bush. As I continued playing in it with my fingers, occasionally teasing her diamond-hard clit as she rocked back and forth, she reminded me of a second wonderful thing: the utterly uninhibited moans that you never heard in Singapore, where everyone was raised to be so quiet and demure. That was but a memory as Julia grunted and yelped and egged me on to keep it up.

"God, yes, gonna come!" she grunted after a few beautiful minutes. She went at it harder and faster and louder, and grabbed at my hands to keep them right where they were when I instinctively started to pull them away, and soon I was treated to the loudest orgasm I'd witnessed since I don't even know when. "Thank you!" she exhaled when it was over. "Now you?"

"Maybe with your next one." I resumed stroking her clit with my thumb, which soon had her in a lather again.

"Oh, Tom!" She leaned back so I had an easier reach with my fingers, and went right on humping me as best she could with her back arched. Then, almost before I knew it, she sat back up and then leaned down over me, her breasts hanging enticingly just above me and occasionally rubbing my chest. "Come with me this time!" she ordered.

"I'll do my best!" But I was enjoying it all so much I didn't care right then if I did come or not.

Julia, though, wasn't taking no for an answer. She began thrusting hard up and down, welcoming my hands on her breasts but focusing down below, until I felt the unstoppable force building up. "Almost there!" I gasped.

"Me too!" she squealed, followed by yet another primal yelp as she came, seconds after I did. Only when I heard her did I realize my own response had rivaled hers -- and it had felt amazing.

As soon as we'd both gone quiet, she collapsed on top of me and laughed. "You come loud for a man," she said.

"Consider it a compliment," I said. "You were amazing right at the end there."

"Thank you!" she propped herself up on her elbows to look in my eyes. "Some guys say I'm too loud, but I guess with that finale of yours, you don't mind."

"Don't mind!" I said. "You were beautiful! So intense. It's been years since I've heard that. I loved it."

"Awwww." She plopped back down on top of me and kissed me triumphantly.

"I sure hope no one overheard us," I said.

"I told you, guests are allowed," Julia said. "And I doubt anyone could tell it was you, you know. Unless..." she giggled and looked me in the eye again. "I know it's none of my business, but would Renee know what you sound like in bed?"

I chuckled. "No. The one time that might have happened...it came and it went, and I missed my chance."

Julia was rubbing my chest and gazing upon my body. "I'm...well, no. I'm not sorry, because then we probably wouldn't be here! But I hope it didn't hurt much."

"It didn't hurt any more than falling in love with a friend always hurts," I said. "Senior year, Steve was off to New York already and they broke up for a while, and one night in the library Renee and I ran into each other and she was still feeling weepy about it, and she asked me back to her dorm to talk about it, and when we got there she was crying and I ended up holding her, and...well, I could have said or done a lot of things, but what I did do was to just be her stoic friend. I guess she figured if I wasn't going to take advantage of that tender moment, then I must not be interested."

"Were you?"

"I was open to the possibility. We'd been friends for three years and she'd seen me through a lot, and we knew each other so well. I guess I was afraid to put that in jeopardy."

"Oh, Tom, that's tragic. Noble, but tragic!"

"I tend to think she'd have gone back to Steve anyway."

"Why?"

"Because she always did."

In the morning, Julia all but ordered me to shower with her. I welcomed the chance to shampoo her hair above and below. "You really like that, don't you?" she asked, looking down as I soaped up her triangle.

"Always have," I said. "Especially after Singapore. All the women there wax everything, and they all look the same underneath. No surprises."

"A surprise?" Julia laughed. "Can't say I was ever surprised when I pulled my panties down, Tom."

"You didn't just see it for the first time last night, did you?" I straightened up and kissed her in the steamy spray, rinsing the last of the soap out of her bush. "Believe me, it was a lovely surprise!"

"You're sweet," she said. "See you at the beach at lunch?"

"Can't wait," I agreed.

Regrettably, though, I had to wait a little longer than that.

At least I was feeling and looking much more rested than yesterday when Steve turned up at breakfast. "Feeling better today, Tom?" he asked with that usual smarmy grin of his.

"Better than when?"

"The other night, when you were all bitter about your Singapore girlfriend."

"Very funny." I sipped my coffee and gazed out at the ocean, hoping he would take the hint, but as usual he didn't.

"Oh, hey, you know that's what we loved about you, Tom! Like I always used to say to Renee --"

"I don't need to hear what you said to Renee or anyone else about me, Steve. Now do you want something, besides to get my goat I mean?"

Steve threw up his hands and grinned. "God, you're worse than a woman. Always did say I could tell when Renee was on the rag, and all she had to say about it was you never gave her a hard time about that."

"It was none of my fucking business. Of course I didn't."

"You sure it wasn't just because you were on the same cycle, Tom?"

I set down my coffee cup and forced a smile. "I take it you didn't get the job in Boston, huh? Sorry, man."

"What makes you think I didn't?"

I shook my head and turned back to my breakfast. "If I've got to explain, you wouldn't get it anyway."

"God, I missed that! Always so open with your grumpiness! I've really got to hand it --"

"Ahem!"

We both looked up to see Renee, once again dressed like a librarian and looking just as stern as one. "Steve," she said. "You're welcome to go collect your things now."

"Yes drill sergeant!" Steve stood up and gave her a sarcastic salute, and marched off.

"Thank you!" I said as soon as he was gone.

"I am so sorry, Tom!" she said. "If I'd known you were here, I'd have steered him elsewhere."

"That only would have encouraged him to come here," I said. "Dare I ask what things he's welcome to collect?"

Renee sat down, elegant as ever and nothing like the casual friend I remembered. "He got the job in Boston. And he's moving there, thank God. So we agreed to have him move his things out of our apartment downstairs while I'm safely away in the office."

"I thought he'd already moved to town?" All at once I remembered I wasn't supposed to know that, but it was too late.

Renee didn't seem to mind. "The word's out among the staff, I see. Julia?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine. And yes, he did get a room in town a while back, but he never moved out completely because we were both still looking at reconciling, but..." Her voice trailed away and I could see she was on the verge of tears. "Sorry, you don't need to hear my dirty laundry, do you?"