Come As You Are Ch. 09

Gio looked up. "Wind's howling."

"Shouldn't you be focusing on making me howl?"

"Right," he answered in a chagrined voice. Having recovered from Garrett's onslaught, Michelle looked back down towards the living room. Gio had lowered his head and at the moment was eagerly kissing Irina's breast.

And Irina was looking right at her.

An icy dagger of terror dug for Michelle's heart as they locked eyes with her. The fear of being discovered overwhelmed Michelle. She tried to step back and hide, but in that particular moment, Garrett's thrusting cock filled her in all the right places. His erection brushed against a particular spot inside of her several times in rapid succession, causing Michelle's entire body to quake.

When she managed to open her eyes, Irina was still looking at her. And then the blonde winked. As Gio resumed his hard, steady thrusting, Michelle watched as Irina spread her legs wider. "Come on baby," she urged loudly, "give it to me! I want every single inch that you've got!"

"Shhh! You're gonna wake them up!"

"Garrett will just high five you tomorrow morning. The guy's a sweetheart, you said so yourself. And Michelle?" Irina hummed evilly. "I don't think you'd mind if Michelle caught us."

"God, that would be weird," Gio responded.

"Would it?" Irina played with her breasts, teasingly rubbing her nipples to Gio's apparent delight. "You've never thought about it? That athletic, slim, wicked body of hers? You never fantasized about nailing her in the locker room after a meet?"

"Maybe once or twice... she has a kickass bod..."

Michelle had never seen Gio in a sexual light. Those nine hesitant words, however, were enough for Michelle to start pushing back against Garrett. As much as he was fucking her, she began fucking him. Her attempts to keep hidden were subsumed by the primal urges welling up inside of her. Her hand went to Garrett's thigh, feeling it flex as he drove in and out of her. "Keep going," she ordered him firmly. "Just like that."

Gio now had Irina's legs on his shoulders. He held her close as he drove in and of her. Irina writhed on the coffee table, moaning exaggeratedly, calling for Gio to go harder, faster, and deeper. Her amorous cries echo across the ski lodge, contrasted by Garrett's furious grunts and Michelle's gasps of ecstasy. Her climax raced towards her, the heat and pressure inside of her giving way to a roaring, tumbling landslide racing down the mountain towards her. All she could do was brace herself and wait to get buried in a rapturous avalanche. "Oh shit!" she heard Irina scream, "I'm going to cum... oh fuck.... oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Michelle managed to take a deep breath just before her orgasm crashed into her. Her knees gave out as her entire body convulsed. She leaned against the wall, thankfully unable to scream as any conscious control of her body was overwhelmed by a pleasure she couldn't put into words. Bright dots of white spotted her vision while her pussy spasmed around Garrett's driving cock. As her body quaked, her fingernails dug into Garrett's thigh. She couldn't hear his hiss of pain, but it wasn't enough for him to slow down. It was only when her orgasm subsided that he lessened his pace. "Holy shit," Michelle heard him say between her panting, heavy breaths. "Are you OK?"

Michelle could feel every drop of wetness on her skin, from the rivulets of sweat running down her chest and back to the streams of her essence dripping along her thighs. When she looked back over her shoulder at Garrett, her eyes were filled with a mad hunger. She pulled him close to lay on a furious kiss. "Did I tell you to slow down?" she asked once she had finished.

Everything was a blur for the next several minutes. Michelle vaguely remembered Garrett turning her around at some point and taking her against the wall. Her strong legs wrapped around him as his hands dug into the firm flesh of her butt to keep her aloft. Irina also changed positions, pushing Gio back onto the couch and climbing on top of him. Her blonde mane flew wildly through the air while she rode the young man, her breasts bouncing full and free.

Michelle teetered between continual bliss and inexorable euphoria. The potency of her final orgasm saw her clawing at Garrett's back while her teeth bore down on his shoulder. The act of having to hide her ecstasy was an unexpected multiplier that threatened to momentarily short-circuit her brain.

Sometime soon after, Garrett gasped in anticipation. Michelle felt his cock twitch as, for the first time in her life, a man came inside of her without protection. He leaned against her, shuddering much like she had throughout the evening, as he spilled his essence. When he was finally spent, the young man was panting as he had just finished an ironman competition. " I'm going to be so sore tomorrow," he murmured tiredly.

"You're going to be sore?" Michelle groaned as Garrett gently lowered her to her feet. "I'm the one who just got the fuck of her life. Congratulations, Garrett. You're The Guy." A proud and weary smile crossed his face as Michelle kissed the tip of his nose and nuzzled her forehead against his. Her attempt to enjoy a brief moment of afterglow, however, was dashed by Irina's wanton cries. "Are they seriously still going at it?" she whispered.

"You know Gio's always been about stamina. He does Kegels."

"You're kidding me."

"Three times a week, hangs a towel on his dick and flexes. I am not making this up."

Michelle took Garrett by the hand. She led the way as the pair stumbled into his bedroom like Frankenstein's monster. He used his foot to kick the door closed behind them. By unspoken agreement they headed for the bathroom, keeping the light off for the sake of their eyes. "We've licked each other's genitals," Michelle said as she sat on the toilet, "so I think we're way past modesty." Garrett waved a hand in understanding before turning to the sink for a drink of water.

Michelle's eyes had adjusted to the darkness by the time she finished cleaning up. When she got to her feet, her gaze was drawn to Garrett's back. "Holy fuck," she proclaimed.

"What's wrong?"

She carefully swiped a finger across his back, gathering up several drops of blood. Ten neat, deep indentations had been driven into his back just below his shoulders. Thin ribbons of liquid seeped from a few of them. "I carved you like a Thanksgiving turkey," she said in awe.

"You think that's bad?" Garrett motioned to his shoulder. "You went all Walking Dead on my shoulder. I'm gonna have one hell of a bruise tomorrow morning."

"Oh my God, Garrett." Michelle steepled her hands over her nose and mouth. "I didn't mean to leave scars like that. I'm so sorry..."

"Don't apologize." Gesturing towards the marks on his back, he told her, "For the rest of my life, every time I look in the mirror I'm going to think about this week." He caressed her face. "Never watched someone have sex, never had sex in quasi-public, never got a scar from sex." He held up his hand. "High five?"

"Never had sex against a wall. High five." The next few minutes were spent rinsing off in the shower. Afterward, Michelle and Garrett stumbled out of the bathroom and fell onto the bed. Michelle rolled onto her stomach, head resting on her hands, the afterglow first and foremost in her mind and her body. Garrett lay on his side, one hand gently stroking her tangled black hair.

"Does that mean we found my thing?" Michelle asked quietly after enjoying Garrett's attention for a few moments.

"I'd bet money on it."

"It's funny. I spent the first day of Spring Break swearing up and down I wasn't interested in guys, and the last night of Spring Break I'm letting one fuck me while watching my roommate fuck my friend from high school. If you asked me to sketch out the chain of events that led to everything that happened there's no way I would be able to do it."

"No regrets though?"

"No regrets." She turned her head to look at Garrett. "What we just did is something I'm going to do again someday, with someone I trust. With someone else I trust," she clarified.

His nails ran up and down her spine, causing her to purr and stretch out her body. "I think Gio and Irina are still going at it," he noted.

"Let them," Michelle sighed. "I'm perfectly content right here."

He stroked her back and shoulders in silence for a few moments. "So, a good week then?"

"Eye-opening week," Michelle answered. "Lots of questions answered, even more questions asked. But I don't want to talk about any of them right now. I just want to drift off. Would you keep scratching my back until I fall asleep?"

"Only if I can cuddle you after."

"Deal."

At some point in Michelle's gentle descent into dreamland, Garrett opened a playlist on his phone. The music mixed in with Michelle's thoughts and mental images, and as she closed her eyes and fell asleep, the lyrics to the final song she heard, TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me," resonated briefly in her head and her heart.

# My mind has changed my body's frame, but, God, I like it #

# My heart's aflame, my body's strained, but, God, I like it #

X X X X X

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" Irina reached across the center console and put her hand on Gio's thigh. "Just for a few minutes?"

From his spot in the driver's seat, Gio glanced into the rearview mirror, locking eyes with Garrett. After a few seconds of consideration, Garrett nodded. "It's like 15 minutes to the airport from here and our flights leave in, what, four hours? Just don't get into anything... well, don't get into anything."

Gio nodded. "Want me to bring your bags inside?"

"We're going to be leaving right after lunch," Irina answered. "Mind putting them in the car?"

Gio nodded before stepping out of the SUV. Irina did the same from the passenger seat. After pulling the girls' bags from the rear cargo area, Gio closed the hatch, leaving Garrett and Michelle alone in the back seat. They watched quietly as Gio loaded up Irina's Ford sedan before following the blonde up the steps into her house, a two-story Tudor in the outer suburbs of Salt Lake City.

"Those two are totally going to bang one last time," Garrett noted as they disappeared into the house.

"No doubt." Michelle checked the time on her iPhone. "Give them twenty minutes?"

"I'd say thirty. Kegels, remember?"

"Let's get some fresh air then," suggested Michelle. The pair stepped from opposite sides into the Utah air. It was hovering just above 60. The sun sat at high noon in a blue sky painted with a handful of white clouds. Both Garrett and Michelle had forgone their jackets with the knowledge they were returning to warmer climates. In deference to their bruises from the previous evening, Michelle wore a long-sleeved black shirt underneath a Denver Blizzard hockey jersey while Garrett had gone with a light gray long-sleeved shirt. The young couple quietly walked over to a swinging bench set on the edge of Irina's property.

"How are you doing?" Garrett asked as Michelle slowly shifted her weight after sitting down.

"Sore, but coping. You?"

"You know how after a good workout you'll feel great while your muscles scream 'no more?' Well, that's me right about now. Last night was legit the hardest I ever came in my life. I'm sore on the inside and the outside. Worth it." Garrett's hand rested on top of hers for a few seconds, a genuine smile on his face. "This whole week was worth it and thanks to you I've got the scars to prove it. I definitely didn't expect anything like what happened to have happened. Should I say thank you? Get you a card or something?"

"Thank you is enough," Michelle laughed. "And the same for you. Thank you, Garrett."

The two of them both turned to look out over the countryside. Irina's house sat in a development on the outer edge of the metro area. Green brush dotted the brown dirt leading up to a brief series of foothills that gave way to the Wasatch Mountains. It was a lovely view, and the young adults sat quietly for a few minutes, soaking in the sun and the relative quiet of nature.

It was Michelle who broke the silence. "I don't do long distance."

Garrett turned to look at her from his spot on the bench as Michelle said, "I don't do long-distance relationships. If I'm seeing somebody, I want to see them, to get to know them as they are, not as they are over a computer screen or a phone call. I needed to get that out there."

"I don't either. I like being with a person, in person. And to be honest, I wasn't thinking about giving this... us... a try like that. We're on opposite sides of the country. It wouldn't work."

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Michelle said, relieved.

"Does that leave us as friends? Because I would like that."

"We're friends. Took us fourteen-plus years and three nights of vigorous fucking, but we're friends." She took a deep breath. "And because we're friends, I have to ask you for a favor." Michelle motioned to the house. "I'm asking you not to tell Gio what happened between us this weekend."

She had expected Garrett to look surprised, confused, maybe even a little hurt. Instead, he leaned forward, hands between his knees, looking her directly in the eyes. "Sure. Not a problem. Can I ask why?"

Michelle ran a hand through her black hair before speaking. "Something happened to me this week. And you were a part of it. All our conversations, all the talking we did, all the fucking...you helped me knock down a lot of barriers, and you've got me asking myself all kinds of questions about my life..."

"Don't tell me I gave you some kind of mid-life crisis twenty years too early."

"No, no. You just... I'm not broken. I realize that thanks to you. I'm a puzzle, and there's either a couple of missing pieces or a couple of pieces that need to be moved around because they're in the wrong place. I'm glad Irina's going to be the one driving because I'm going to be looking out the window most of the time trying to figure things out. And until I do... I just reconnected with Gio, and I don't want him thinking I've turned into some kind of raging... raging..."

"Turboslut?"

"Appropriate word choice, yes," Michelle said. "I liked everything you and I did. I liked it a LOT. But... I don't know if it was the fact that I was on Spring Break, the fact that..."

"Hey." Garrett gently squeezed Michelle's knee. "You don't need to give me a reason. I kind of picked up on that vibe during dinner last night that you wanted to keep things on the down-low. If you don't want me to say anything, I won't say anything to Gio. Or Vienna, for that matter."

"Thank you... and I'm not going to say anything to the girls, or Irina. This is... hell, I'll say it. I'm being a bit selfish. This is absolutely a 'me' thing I don't want to share. I went to Spring Break and banged a guy from high school. Repeatedly."

"As long as you're not embarrassed that it was me you slept with."

"I think if I told Brenda, Colette, and Sadie I slept with you, none of them would believe it."

Garrett's laugh was louder and more boisterous than she expected. "May I make an observation?" he asked.

"Sure. Last time we're seeing each other this week, might as well get my therapeutic money's worth."

"You say you're a puzzle, but I see you more as a... normally you have it all together. You're stable, you're solid, you're reliable. Right now though, you're a work in progress. And you don't like people seeing you when you're not altogether. You took a sledgehammer to your sexuality this week and until you pick up the pieces and put them together the way you feel they should go together, you want to keep it to yourself until you can present the complete Michelle to the world."

"That's pretty fucking spot on," Michelle said quietly.

"I still think you should go see a counselor when you get back to Arizona, a professional who might help you put the pieces together faster and stronger than before. Hell, they might tell you everything I just said was bullshit. Most of my wisdom comes from part-time bartending."

"I'll text you when I set up the appointment. Which reminds me, I need your phone number," she said as she took her phone out of her pocket. "In case you need to text me for skiing or ice skating advice."

After exchanging numbers the pair sat together for a couple more minutes chatting lightly until a voice called from the house. "GARRETT!" They looked up to see Gio and Irina on the porch. Gio waved to his friend with his free hand as his other was wrapped up in Irina's.

"Guess that's my cue," Garrett said. "Just so you know," he added as they started back towards the house, "I'm trying not to have this big cocky grin on my face right now."

"And I'm not trying to think about last night," she immediately shot back. "I'm getting wet just thinking about it." Michelle laughed as Garrett almost stumbled over his feet at the comment. "I'm joking, I'm joking," she told him. She waited a few seconds before adding, "I guess that's why Colette says my sense of humor is always so dry."

Garrett spun in place and walked away from Michelle, a hand over his face as he did his best not to burst out laughing. After recovering and rejoining Michelle the four young adults met at the SUV. Irina's hair was mussed and Gio's shirt was half untucked in his pants. "All good to go?" Garrett asked, trying to maintain a deadpan expression and failing in the process.

"Yeah... sorry about that. Had to say goodbye." Gio leaned down and gave Irina a light kiss on the cheek. "I'll text you when I land, OK?"

"You better." Irina squeezed his hand one more time before letting go.

Gio turned to Michelle and quickly wrapped her up in a tight bear hug that took her off the ground. "God, it was great seeing you again! We definitely need to hook up next time we're both in Emerald Pines!"

"It was nice to meet you, Garrett." Irina gave Garrett a friendly hug, which the young man returned in kind. "Thanks for letting me borrow your friend for the week."

"No problem," Garrett replied. He turned to look at Michelle, who had taken a few steps to close the distance between them. He ran a nervous hand through his brown hair before extending his other hand. "Michelle," he said in a neutral tone. "Nice to see you again. Safe trip back to Arizona."

"Same to you, Garrett." The pair shook hands, two firm pumps meeting the social standard for politeness. There was a moment's pause before Michelle exclaimed, "Oh, fuck it." She pulled Garrett to her and proceeded to lay a hard, passionate kiss on him. She could only imagine the look on Gio and Irina's faces as she threw her whole body into the liplock, blatantly Frenching him while molding her body against his for a long, drawn-out moment. After his initial shock, Garrett returned the kiss with equal fervor. For a few brief seconds, it was the night before all over again.

Michelle wore a smirk the size of the nearby mountains when she eventually pulled away. Garrett could only laugh as Michelle wiped at her lips with an exaggerated motion. "Sorry. I just wanted to give the poor boy some kind of thrill to take back home with him."

"What else can I say then? Thank you, Michelle." With a smile that blazed like the sun, Garrett slowly opened up the SUV and climbed inside.

"And that's our cue... wow Michelle. Just... wow." Gio gave her one final hug, and a longer final hug to Irina. The two women watched as the SUV turned around and headed down the driveway. They continued to follow the black vehicle until it was almost out of sight turning onto the highway and merging among the noontime traffic.

"I knew it." Michelle didn't have to look to know that her roommate was wearing a wide grin. "I knew yesterday at dinner that you two were getting it on. That right there was the look of a boy who didn't want to leave."