Cinderella

I was thinking that I owed the malicious old bitch a thank-you card, maybe even some flowers.

Any intelligent and sensible person would have reassured Billie... told her that he trusted her and that he loved her. Me? I proved beyond a smidgen of a doubt that I'd completely lost my mind. Because the first words out of my mouth were, "Will you marry me?" OH MY!!!

Where the fuck did THAT come from?!! That was so NOT who I am. I'm a serious adult. If I choose to spend my life with a woman, it'll be after hours of discussion and comparison of worldviews. It won't be while I'm standing in a big red phone box next to an off-license, thirty-nine-hundred miles from the object of my proposal. As I said, love makes you do crazy things.

Nevertheless, I'd put it out there and I knew that I meant it. Obviously, this romance thing drives normally sensible people batshit crazy. Billie gasped and said incredulous, "Did you just propose??!!"

I was stunned too. It took a second of crunching around in the gearbox to get my mind back into gear. Then I said in the most rational voice I could muster, "Yes, I guess I just did. I know it sounds insane. But I'm convinced that you're the only woman I'll ever want and so I might as well just cut to the chase."

She said with deep emotion in her voice, "We'll have to talk about it when you get home. But if you're still serious, then I am too." She finished with a gentle, "I love you, hurry back."

*****

I'd left Heathrow at ten AM and arrived in Milwaukee at noon - eight hours later thanks to the six-hour time zone change. The hands of my internal clock were spinning like a roulette wheel. I spotted the three of them as soon as I cleared customs.

A superb woman and two beautiful kids were standing in the concourse. They looked tentative but eager. That scene gave me a feeling of peace and fulfillment. My heart expanded. I was home.

We were awkward at first. I mean, this was STILL only the fourth time I had seen Billie in the flesh, and what flesh it was. She walked up to me, and we kissed. No sloppy tongue swapping extravaganza, just the softest greeting.

Then Ally, who has all of her mother's fire and self-possession, gave me a little hug and said, "Welcome home."

The two of them turned to poor Ronnie who was hanging back looking very uncomfortable and said, "Well!!" He extended his hand, head down, and mumbled, "Welcome home, sir." I grabbed him in a bear hug and said, "Welcome home yourself!!" He struggled but he was giggling. Both girls laughed out loud.

We'd arranged to meet at the airport so we could drive directly up to the Dells. That was the neutral turf where we were going to hash this thing out. Billie had parked her dilapidated 150 in the long-term lot, and I'd rented a sedan from Hertz for the relatively short drive to Lake Delton.

We checked into one of the three-bedroom condos at the Grand Resort and Spa. I'd chosen the Grand because of the waterpark just behind it. Billie and I both knew that there'd be baggage in this deal. That is if we were going to get together for life. So, the kids had to be part of the discussion.

The condo was pricy, but I'd made a bundle on my teaching gig. The kids' real father had been a cheap and selfish motherfucker - her words. But there was a new sheriff in town, and I wanted them to experience a life they'd never known.

The condo was spacious. Billie and I had the privacy of a king suite. There was a regular bed in one room for Ally, who was definitely going to be my girl. Ronnie had his own bunk in the other bedroom, and he was thrilled. It was the first time that he didn't have to share a room with his bossy older sister.

We dropped our stuff and the kids immediately jetted for the pool. This was the first time Billie and I'd been alone, and we were both a little uneasy. It was hard to blame us. We'd been together exactly four times, one of those was when she was with another guy, and now we were talking marriage. What could possibly go wrong with that!!??

I opened my arms and she snuggled into me like we'd been cuddling that way for years. She had a hard body, built from all those years of work. The contrast with her big pneumatic tits made it feel like we were clutching a pillow between us.

Billie looked up at me and silently searched my face. I knew what she was asking. I said, "Yes, this is crazy but I'm not kidding. It just feels so right. I'm ready to do this as soon as you're comfortable with it." I thought, "Ick! I'm turning into a caricature of a soap opera Romeo."

Billie made a little noise, then she stood on her tiptoes, and we really kissed for the very first time. It was like somebody'd thrown a switch. Her mouth opened like a flower, she moaned loudly, then she threw her arms around my neck and plastered herself to me. It felt like she was trying to merge us.

We kissed wildly for a minute. I could sense her heat. Her lips were constantly in motion writhing and nipping with passion. Then the knowledge that her kids were in the vicinity moderated us like the control rods slamming down in a nuclear reactor. We broke away, panting like bloodhounds on a hot Georgia porch.

That moment together had clearly astonished both of us. I looked into her eyes and there was savage hunger. This was a new and different Billie, full of sensual fire and excitement. I said shaken by the experience, "We'll continue this later on." She gave me a sharp nod of affirmation.

I took them to Hot Dog Avenue for dinner - yep hotdogs. The kids were in shorts and t-shirts, just cheap white cotton, no message. Billie was in shorts and a sleeveless top with pink flip-flops. It was a simple outfit, and it was by no means revealing. But people still stopped and gawked like they were looking at something special. The fact was, they were.

There were better places to eat. But I'd gotten uncomfortably aware that I'd made a mistake by bringing Billie and her kids to such an upscale place. I'd been trying to go all-out to show her how I felt about her. But now I realized that I'd dropped her into an alien universe. We should have had this discussion in familiar surroundings, her farm, or my house.

The three of them had never experienced anything like this before. Their few meager clothes were all packed in a single suitcase, and they kept ogling the decor and furnishings. It was the typical example of me not really considering other people's feelings.

Still, for a change, I'd realized my error, and I was being as considerate as I could. Maybe this new concept, "love," wasn't half bad after all?

The kids wanted to go to the pool one last time. So, Billie and I sat on the terrace and watched the sunset over the lake. My brain was buzzing as it does from westbound jet lag. Eastbound you can always reset your clock with a short nap. But westbound you just have to power through to a reasonable hour before you can sleep, and I knew I wasn't going to make it much longer.

I was sipping a double Laphroaig, just to keep some steam in my boiler. She had a G&T. I looked down at the two happy kids frolicking in the pool and said, "They're wonderful. I know this is strange territory for all of you and I'm sorry for dropping you in the deep end like this. But you've all coped beautifully."

Billie gave me her patented sexy sideways glance from underneath her bangs and said, "My children have never experienced anything like this. I love you. But I love you more for including them."

I said candidly, "Love me, love my kids -- you three are a package and I might add that they only make the experience richer. You are a woman who any man would be proud to be with. But there is so much more to you than simple looks. You are a great mother, and your kids reflect that fact."

She looked at me with luminous eyes and said, "So, what should we do about that?"

I said, "Full disclosure, I've never had an honest relationship with a woman in my life."

Her face fell. So, I hastily added, "That is until I met you. I have no idea why I feel this way, or why I've acted like I have. But in the past, I've always held something back. Now, I can see that I was just marking time until you came along. I know that sounds crazy, but that's the way I feel."

I mumbled with a hint of mortification, "It's the reason why your short affair with Marvin almost killed me."

Billie chuckled and said, "Well it serves you right for fixing me up with him - instead of yourself. Honestly, I felt the same way, and I kind of resented Skipper because she'd met you first."

I said, "Now, all of the barriers are down, and I never want to lose you, or even be apart from you. I might add that I am utterly appalled at my neediness. But it's definitely true. I want you in my life forever and if that requires holy matrimony then so be it."

She said seriously, "Would you become a Catholic? We're divorced so we can't be married in the church. But still, I'm sincere about my religion."

That was an easy answer since I'd marry her if she was a practicing Druid. But it revealed something new about Billie. She was deeply spiritual. That boded well for the sturdiness of her moral foundation.

I laughed and said, "I'll take my chances with the Almighty. Just as long as your people are willing to allow a heathen in their church. I promise, no human sacrifices or anything messy... at least not right away."

She laughed and said, "Just show up on Christmas and Easter and help me with the kids. I want them raised with a solid sense of values." Was there anything I didn't love and respect about this woman?

That was when the kids made their appearance wrapped in their beach towels. We made our way dripping back to the condo and Billie supervised bedtime while I turned on the gas fire in the fireplace.

When she came back, I was sitting on the couch enjoying a last drink. She snuggled up next to me in that boneless way that women do. I would have fallen off the couch if I'd folded my legs like that. She said, "They're asleep and very happy. Maybe we should go to bed too. What time is it in your head?"

I looked at my watch and it was ten o'clock. I said, "Four AM my time, but right now I don't want to think about how long my day's been. Let's just sit here and watch the fire for a minute. I have something I need to ask you."

I hesitated and said, "Tell me... how old are you?"

A little voice from somewhere underneath my chin said, "Thirty, why are you asking me that?" That was younger than I'd hoped, but Billie was a very mature person.

I said, "Well -- it isn't like I'm robbing the cradle since you DO have two kids and all. But I'm forty-five. Do you have a problem with that age difference?"

She sat up straight and said indignantly, "What does age have to do with anything? When you commit yourself to a marriage you promise to deal with life TOGETHER. Nobody knows what's going to happen in the future. But whatever it is we'll work through it. I mean, I might turn into an ugly and crippled seventy-year-old and you might be a hale and hearty eighty-five. Would you abandon me?"

I looked utterly horrified. Billie said triumphantly, "See!!"

All I could see was the lady bison I wanted guarding my back for the rest of my life.

*****

I was the one who was as nervous as a new bride on her wedding night, even though I'd been the one who'd lived all those years foraging in the wild. Whereas Billie'd been on the market a mere five months.

The full moon lit our bedroom in a silvery glow. I chuckled. It seemed like there was a full moon every time something momentous happened between us. Billie came out of the bathroom wearing nothing at all. The moonlight delineated the planes of her superb body.

She was completely unselfconscious and unashamed. She was breathtaking. She prowled toward me, like a stalking tiger. This was her jungle. She knew it, and she was about to prove it. Her huge breasts swayed with weighty majesty. Someday those rock-solid nipples would be pointing straight down. But today they were aimed at me like the big guns on a battleship.

She slipped lithely into the bed and lay back against the pillows breathing heavily. One breast was puddled directly on her chest and the other hung slightly off to one side. She gave me a penetrating look that said, "Here I am... now what are you going to do about it!?"

I'd known the sensible, loving, and intelligent Billie. This was a brand new and totally unexpected facet; a powerful sexual being, with absolute confidence in her feminine powers. This Billie could please any man. But she demanded pleasure in return. I had the passing thought that Marvin never stood a chance.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the key to a successful marriage revolves around two people's ability to maintain an exciting sexual connection. I mean, in practical terms, you're probably as emotionally attached to your kids as you are to your spouse. But you only share the profound experience of physical intercourse with your wife. That is if you want to stay married.

Thus, although Billie and I were mentally close and we clearly had common values, the long-term prospects for marriage were always going to come down to sexual compatibility. And so, as they say in the wide world of sports, "This game was for all the marbles!!".

I knew that contrary to popular male belief, women don't find it romantic to be dragged around by their hair or mounted like they're being bred. Sex for them is a sophisticated physical exercise, like the dance. It's their form of intimate expression.

Hence, the cliched comparison of a woman's body to a musical instrument is apt. The man's role in that scenario is to evoke a virtuoso performance. And in that respect, Billie was a Stradivarius.

She was lying there relaxed, looking at me with a challenge in her eyes. I saw no fear or hesitation. She was profoundly sure of her feminine abilities. I could also see the immense passion crouched there like a hungry predator. So, I thought I'd tease it a bit.

I propped myself on one elbow, reached over, and gently put a single finger on her perfect cheekbone. Then I slid it past her little nose to her wide sensuous mouth. Her lips were moist and full and slightly parted. I touched them. She let out a very small sigh, enfolded the tip of my finger with her lips, and lightly touched it with her tongue, like a kiss.

She released it and my little traveler passed over the exquisite point of her chin. I traced down the solid ledge of her jaw to her long perfectly muscled neck. It felt both soft and hard, smooth, and exposed. It was extraordinarily hot to the touch, as the heated blood pulsed through it. She let out a much louder gasp and then a long sigh, steadily holding my gaze, still challenging.

My finger lightly caressed her womanly shoulders. I felt the urge to kiss those vulnerable things, so tiny in proportion to the power of her hips. But the time was not right. Instead, I moved down the swell of her left breast and across its broad quivering surface to the aureole.

The aureole had wrinkled to a much smaller area as her nipple hardened. But it was still as expansive and fertility brown as a newly turned field. The nipple stood out, proud and quivering, round and high as a solitary castle at the top of a great mountain.

I circled my finger around it, marveling at its symmetry. It grew redder and wider as her hot blood engorged it. This feature would require considerable special attention at a later time. She gave a single groan and I passed on; the exploration wasn't close to being finished yet.

Her chest was heaving with increasing passion as my little traveler frolicked from nipple to rib cage, traversing down the impossibly long underswell of her breast. It paused to explore the deep crevice formed by the breast as it lay on her chest. She gave a loud groan and said stressed, "What are you doing to me??!"

The explorer didn't answer. Instead, it skipped lightheartedly down her rib cage to the point that overlooked the wide flat expanse of her belly and hips. The vista was breathtaking, like coming to a cliff overlooking an incredibly broad and fertile plain, her hip bones framed a valley at the far end. Her mons stood in the middle like a prominent distant hill.

My traveler traced lightly across the smooth muscles of her stomach. Her skin was like dusky satin. The muscles underneath rippled wildly as my finger passed and little gasps and cries accompanied its progress. It stopped to explore the crater of her belly button, eliciting a short and very profound gasp then a loud moan.

She muttered under her breath, "You have to fuck me." The traveler ignored her. Instead, it moved over the undulating swell of her lower belly and into the exceptionally broad and bountiful expanse directly between her hip bones. Then it began to climb her mons. As it climbed it passed over a well-tended lawn like you would encounter if you approached a grand estate.

It encountered a hypnotically enchanting fissure at the top of the crest, wide and deep; the folds were slightly brown-reddish, and they were opening in front of the traveler's eyes begging to be explored. The female scent coming from that place was intoxicating in the extreme. The moans were getting louder.

Those agitated cries urged the traveler to plunge into the fruitful space between. But there was still considerable rich abundance to be explored before that could happen. So, the traveler pressed on across her pubic bone to the considerable space at the juncture between her thighs and her hips. The traveler had a decision to make, right, or left?

The traveler chose left. He traced down an extraordinarily full and well-muscled thigh. The skin covering each of those highly defined muscles twitched violently as he passed, while she groaned in an agony of sensory overload. Because the traveler was in no hurry the journey took some time.

She called the traveler a sadistic son-of-a-bitch. Yet, she allowed him to proceed. When the little traveler reached the knee cap, she moaned, cried, and begged to be fucked. But there was still some distance to go. So, it bypassed the top of the knee and jumped over to the silky-smooth skin of her right leg.

That change of pathways caused a yelp, a loud groan, and a bucking of her hips. At which point the explorer took a short detour to trace the extraordinary bulge of her calf muscle. The exploration was complicated somewhat by the uncontrolled flexing of her powerful leg.

The moans, gasps, and pleadings became more frantic. The traveler paused to examine her feet. They were muscular and utilitarian, high arching and solid with neatly painted red nails on their toes.

Then surprisingly, those toes curled tightly, and their owner began to buck wildly in the grip of a powerful orgasm.

Billie convulsed herself into a perfect arc using only her drastically pointed feet and the very tops of her shoulders as a fulcrum. She held that pose while she began to shake and quiver moaning loudly and rhythmically. Only a body as strong as Billie's could have endured the stresses that position imposed. Finally, she relaxed slowly back on the bed.

She lay there like she was dead for another thirty seconds then her eyes popped open, and I saw to my utter horror and delight, that I'd unleashed the beast. In one continuous motion and without saying a word, Billie sat straight up, shoved me violently flat on my back, cocked a leg over me, grabbed my throbbing erection, and literally jammed it into her hot silky tunnel. My God! The woman was strong!!

She uttered a loud "Unngghhh," and began to grind like a madwoman making continuous Uh! Uh! Uh! grunts. I knew by her contractions that this was going to be short but very intense. But still, the growling shocked me. It was a primal sound, from the very pit of her soul, "HRRRGH, HUNGGH, HRRGH!"