Catalyst

"Geraldine, you don't know this girl she's...manipulative."

"I think she's a breath of fresh air. She's certainly shaken up my sales team."

"You know that she poached Kappel?"

She pondered this for a few seconds as if wondering how to respond.

"I suppose that makes us even but I've been thinking that our companies have been cosy for too long. It isn't healthy for either of us in the long term"

I looked at her in alarm. Our informal collaboration had worked to our mutual advantage for years and I could not understand this change of heart.

"Has Jade been speaking to your client managers?"

Geraldine laughed.

"Are you thinking that she tried on that faux lesbian thing with my team?"

That she was aware of it only made it more worrying.

"She is dangerous. You need to get rid of her."

For a moment I could see anger in her eyes.

"I'll use my own judgement; besides, are you afraid of a bit of competition?"

This was not the Geraldine that I knew and I did not know how to reason with her. My next words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"She's really gotten to you hasn't she. Are you sure it's just professional interest?

Just for a fleeting second her anger gave way to something else; a vulnerable look of guilt as though she had been caught out. She recovered quickly.

"She's a junior employee. Nothing more."

I had expected my remark to rile her but her answer was almost defensive. There was no need for her to respond at all; I knew she was as straight as a die.

There had been just one night about two years after we left university. She invited me out for a drink to break the news that she was anticipating an imminent proposal of marriage which she was going to accept.

I liked Duncan and wished her well. Fuelled with wine we even got as far as discussing a hen night. I jokingly suggested male strippers but it got escalated to a male porn star. As she put it, between gales of laughter, she wanted, just once, to try the full twelve inches.

I told her I would see what I could do but as I laughed at my own joke she touched me on the arm.

"...and a lesbian too. I may as well try everything before I become a one man woman."

I raised an eyebrow at that but she mock whispered.

"Don't bother with the lesbian. There's only one woman I want to lose my virginity to."

With that she leaned forward and kissed me fleetingly on the lips before dissolving into a fit of the giggles.

Recalling that night I have to admit that I enjoyed some lurid dreams but they were as quickly forgotten about.

Now, given my own recent experiences and Geraldine's poor track record with long term relationships, I wondered if, perhaps, Jade had reignited some latent curiosity in her. In my mind I could recall Jade's own words when she suggested that I had something about me that was attractive to women and my thoughts slowly began to coalesce.

I reasoned that if I could only alert her to the threat that Jade posed she would quickly come to her senses. Guided by instinct I decided that I needed to shatter her natural poise and knock her off balance.

I stood up and, without a word, I began to unbutton my blouse.

She sat on the sofa, her legs still tucked up beneath her, looking perplexed. She was clearly assuming that I had got up to take my leave but as I eased out of my bra she found her voice.

"What are you doing?"

I did not answer but continued to remove my clothing until I was left standing in just my panties.

We had seen one another undressed at different times over the years but never as blatantly as I now presented myself. I thought that my nerve would fail me but as I watched her desperately trying not to let her eyes roam I felt strangely empowered.

I stood quite still until she broke and glanced at my exposed breasts. She quickly locked her eyes with mine once again but I slid a single finger just within the waistband of my panties daring her to look down.

She shifted slightly on the sofa to momentarily disguise the angle of her sightline but when she looked back up we both knew what had taken place.

I was imbued with an eerie sense of calm whilst I noted that Geraldine was breathing more quickly. In my mind I pictured, with perfect clarity, that first encounter with Audris but, in a slow dissolve, it was no longer me on my knees.

I could even hear the inflection of her voice as I spoke my own words.

"Why don't you come over here and take them off for me?"

This was the pivotal moment; I either achieved my ends or else our friendship was going to be irretrievably broken with consequences that I did not wish to contemplate. The world stood still for a span of time and I feared that I had failed but then, hesitantly at first, she eventually got to her feet.

She came towards me with uncertainty written on her face but there was also a glimmer of expectancy. Without thought her tongue touched against her lips and I stood awaiting her kiss.

I knew that I had to let her lips touch mine, as a physical manifestation, before I abruptly broke the spell and demonstrated to her just how she had been influenced.

There was a final moment of hesitation but she was now so close that I could feel her nervous breath against my face. I turned my head a tiny, inviting, degree but I was caught off guard as she slowly sank to her knees.

It was my turn to falter as she eased my panties down to my feet and, as she did so, I felt an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability. For years I had retained a neat growth but only the previous day I had been to the salon for a total depilation.

It was intended as a surprise for Madelaine and never in my wildest imagination could I have pictured Geraldine gazing upon me in the way that she now did. She seemed enraptured by the eruptive exposure of my labia and I was conscious of a melting heat deep inside.

I should have stopped it right then, there was nothing more to prove. It would have taken very little to jar her back to her senses but I also knew, with certainty, that I could make her do it and the rush that gave me sent thrilling sensations to every extreme of my body.

I could feel my labia unfurling as they became suffused by my quickening blood and her nose twitched as she was shrouded by my heated scent.

Her body quivered for the space of a heartbeat as she struggled with her conscience but where I had unmasked my susceptibility in front of a total stranger Geraldine was laying her soul exposed to one of her oldest friends.

There was no doubt that I felt some sympathy for her but I was driven by more primal urges.

"Kiss it..."

The strain showed in her tensed neck muscles but my barely whispered words had the desired effect. Inch by inch she moved closer until I felt the gentle touch of her lips determining her fate.

She kissed timidly along the whole length of my sex as if fearful of my next command but there could be no turning back.

"Lick me..."

She could not bring herself to look up at me; her tongue shyly appeared and then I felt the wetness of it as she took her first true taste.

To begin with she was unsure but then she visibly relaxed as she attuned all of her senses allowing herself to savour this uniquely feminine offering.

The feel of her untrained tongue was a delight in itself as she slowly found her way but it was not long before she was paying homage with bolder strokes and I began to leak copiously.

In response she applied a steady pressure and lodged her tongue deep inside. She gave a stifled groan which vibrated my sex and threatened to bring me close to a climax but now it had begun I wanted a whole lot more. I put a hand to the back of her head and eased forward tipping her off balance as I did so.

For a second or two she fought for control but then allowed me to dictate. I lowered her to the floor and, giving her no opportunity to protest, I pinned her shoulders with my knees and straddled her face.

For the first time in minutes she looked into my eyes and I knew that some dynamic in our relationship had irreversibly changed. Seeing her there with no make-up, her face wet with my seepage, brought out something in me that I never would have admitted to.

With a deep hum of satisfaction I slid forward covering her face completely. I knew that she could hardly breathe and that any air that I allowed her would be moistly scented. I was her first and I wanted her to vividly remember it for the rest of her life.

I cannot deny that there must have been some element of cruelty as I started to ride her face, heedless of her discomfort, seeking out the delicious friction which would take me towards my first orgasm.

For now I knew I would not be content with one but, after all, it was she who had wanted things to change.

I smiled and clenched my body, sealing her more completely, as my muscles thrummed in a familiar precursor to the ultimate release. When it came I felt a flush of heat across the whole surface of my skin and, inside, a dam broke wetting all beneath me.

She put up a token struggle but I held her down and only drew back from her face when the dying eddies gave way to an inner calm.

She gasped for breath and I could see from her face she was frightened of what I had shown myself capable but there was something else. I finally recognized it as acceptance and that realization stirred the embers of an orgasm that I thought had passed.

My body tensed pleasurably once more preparing itself for a second licentious climb to the summit but this was something more than just physical. I felt an almost depraved desire to complete my dominion over her.

I lifted myself from her, taking my weight on my knees, and she wearily slid herself free but, as she did so, I leant forward.

I placed my hands on the floor and lowered my head so that my backside was raised. The cool air against my skin confirmed just how blatantly I was putting myself on display but I stretched another inch tautening my cheeks into a perfect curve.

It may, perhaps, have been construed as an invitation for her to smack me, and thus exact her revenge, but her mind was now mine to manipulate. It was a prolonged pause but the waiting was all the more delectable for knowing that she was waging a battle within herself that she could not win.

I could almost feel her staring at me and then a despairing groan announced her capitulation. She kissed me low down on the open maw of my mons and then began to lick tenderly as before.

I contented myself with her ministrations knowing that it was only a matter of time. I had extended an invitation that she was powerless to resist and, slowly but surely, the sweep of her tongue ranged more daringly.

I smiled to myself as I felt her make a first foray into the darker furrow and almost swooned as she made a tentative contact. I was perspiring and I swallowed reflexively as I imagined the salty taste of my own skin but she was not daunted.

She licked broadly spreading moisture from my sex to that forbidding centre and then she applied a hesitant pressure.

I let her try unavailingly for some seconds but then I relented and eased the tension of my expectant muscles.

I could not supress a moan of delight as her tongue slipped inside me and then she used the flats of her hands to part my cheeks to grant even deeper access.

I was not an ingénue, but it had always been as the recipient, and I tried to imagine what she was experiencing. I exerted a gentle pressure but that only encouraged her to flex her tongue sending sensations singing through my body.

I tried to relax as fully as possible allowing her to writhe within. She was whimpering as if she had discovered some personal Eden and I knew that it was not going to take very much more to set me off again.

In the past I had always needed some extra stimulation to make this happen but this time knowing that it was Geraldine was enough to bring me fully to flame. All of my muscles seemed to tighten at once applying what must have been a painful pressure but she stuck to her task until I bit my hand to hold back a scream as a second searing orgasm shook me to the core.

When I eventually found the strength to get to my feet she looked forlorn. The temptation to reciprocate in some manner was strong but I was determined to make my point and, besides, there was Melanie to consider.

I did not speak. I dressed quickly and, without a backward glance, I walked out.

Chapter 8

The following afternoon I received a text message. It said simply.

"I've sacked her."

I was tempted to reply but it was enough, for now, that she had recognized that she was playing with fire. I decided that I would leave it a few days and then attempt to rebuild some bridges.

Melanie was due back that evening and I elected to surprise her by meeting her from the train. In truth, I was more remorseful for having been unfaithful to her than I was about hurting Geraldine in any way.

I feared that I had opened a door to a darker side of my psyche that could not be easily closed but then I saw Melanie on the platform. She was looking for a luggage trolley and did not immediately see me. She looked breathtakingly beautiful and, as she bent over to retrieve her bag, my eyes took in the beautiful sweep of her derrière.

I knew then that I was going to be safe with her and that there would be no barriers between us.

Her face lit up when she spotted me and, dropping her bags to the floor, she ran to me and enfolded me in her arms. Heedless of her fellow passengers she kissed me fully on the lips and I was suffused with a feeling of well-being the like of which I had never known.

A few days later my accountant told me that Levinsons were not renewing their contract and I was glad to hear it. They were returning to the fold and it was a good first step in re-establishing the status quo between Geraldine and I.

I picked up the phone and when Geraldine answered I just said.

"Congratulations."

I was confident that we were on the same wavelength but then she dropped the bombshell.

"Haven't you heard? They didn't come back to me. Somehow she's managed to persuade Sharon Teal to put up some seed money. Jade's in business for herself...."