Elizabeth 07: Before the Storm

Yes, I decided after a moment's reflection, I bloody well would!

Rejecting my inclination to lock the door, I propped myself up on my pillows and spread my legs as wide as I could, and began teasing my vulva with all ten fingers. I found I was already a bit wet with the anticipation that someone was bound to open that door sooner or later, that I had no idea just what was to transpire, but that it was certain to be something deliciously wicked. A hundred beautiful memories roared through my mind, of Elizabeth chatting comfortably with me while posing in the nude for Edward's painting, of the lovely anticipation that came with undressing at the baths, of the hot water and hotter conversation in the baths, of Elizabeth and Irene teaching me to masturbate, of our seaside orgy (which was at once vivid and a rose-coloured blur...just who had done what to whom? It hardly mattered!), of Irene's face buried in my pussy and mine in hers...I found there was no chance at settling on any one of them, nor was there any need to! It occurs to me now that I did not give any thought to James; those memories were golden as well, but tonight was for our gang only, I suppose.

The spinning collage of beautiful images soon had me worked into a delicious lather, and my fingers were warm and wet with my own nectar before I even set out to make them so. Soon I had two fingers enveloped in my vagina while my left hand grazed my clitoris gently. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the glow of the light as I continued reviewing my own erotic history, wiggling my legs a bit and vocalizing my pleasure just a bit. Soon enough I was no longer teasing but rather rubbing firmly, exulting in the waves of sensation I had grown so good at inspiring in myself.

It may have been the first stroke that was just a bit too intense and inspired me to jolt a bit, or it may have been the third or fourth for all I know. Such is the beauty of self-pleasuring that I likely did not know even at the time. What I did know was that the sensation grew strong enough to make me open my eyes just to get my bearings before plunging into the throes of orgasm; and I was greeted with the sight of Irene and Benjamin standing fully clothed at the foot of my bed. I sat up with a jolt, my strokes coming to a sudden end but my hand remaining clamped tightly inside me.

"Lovely show, dear," Irene said. "Please don't let us stop you."

"Sorry we didn't let you know we were here," Benjamin added. "Just that you looked so beautiful, we didn't wish to spoil it!"

Perhaps surprisingly, in that moment, I felt beautiful as well. I suppose that is because, despite my extremely vulnerable state, I felt safe and loved as I would in no other company, and also very powerful in my state of sheer physical bliss. To say nothing of Benjamin's reaction to it all, which I detected with an unapologetic look at his trousers. "Yes, Benjamin, I can see how beautiful you find it. Perhaps you should join me in undressing before you tear a hole in your pants there?"

He and Irene both laughed, and he took me up on my invitation. "Couldn't agree more, if it comes to that, Agnes," he said, slipping off his waistcoat.

"I'll help you, Benjamin," Irene said. "Agnes has her hands full, or rather she is full of her hands, or some such."

I thought of adding some commentary on how we knew Irene had missed helping Benjamin out of his clothes, but that would have been rather cruel. I realized as much just in time, and chose to enjoy the view silently as I lay back and resumed masturbating. No memory can ever compete with the joy of seeing a beautiful body emerge from hiding, particularly one that you haven't seen in several years. I enjoyed the show with growing hunger as Irene unbuttoned Benjamin's pants, pulled his shirt out of them, and peeled it away to reveal his broad and well-forested chest. I longed to run my fingers over it and through all that wonderfully virile hair, and the way he admired my own busy little show made it clear that such participation would have been most welcome.

In no time, Irene - who was still fully clothed - had him down to his short pants, which were straining desperately against his immensely hard cock. Turning to me, she asked teasingly, "Do you think I should let the poor thing out?"

"Yes!" he and I answered in unison, and I was just as emphatic in my desire to see the treasure as he was to have it liberated. His eyes met mine, as he finally tore his adoring gaze away from my vagina, and we laughed together.

"Well, I can see what the two of you want, then!" Irene continued, not yet making any move to finish undressing him. "But don't I get a vote?"

"Get out of your dress and then we can talk about that!" I said, my breath now growing husky again.

"Are we that desperate, dear?" Irene went on. She made no move to undress.

"Do I look desperate?" I quipped, now being on the cusp of an orgasm any time I cared for it.

"He certainly does, doesn't he?" Irene mused. But the longing look on her face reflected her own sense of urgency to see and touch his lovely cock once again.

"Yes, he does!" Benjamin confessed, wiggling adorably as if he were late for the water closet. Irene and I both laughed through the thick sexual tension, and to my relief Benjamin seemed to be amused at the situation as well.

"Please, Irene," I said, nearly bursting with longing for a look at his nude body. "I know how much you've missed him, after all!"

"Well, yes," she conceded, now turning away with a coy look on her face to admire the night sky beyond my window, where I had left the curtains not quite drawn. "But we have got all night, after all; why hurry it all along so?"

"Why indeed, Irene?" came Elizabeth's voice. We all whipped around to see her and Jonathan standing hand in hand in the doorway, each of them wearing a big smile and absolutely nothing else. Jonathan's penis snapped to attention when he lay eyes upon me, much to my delight, and I gave him a come-hither look to which he readily agreed, hard cock in hand.

"Well, I didn't expect you to join us!" Irene said, as I wondered how she felt about being the only one still fully clothed.

"Did you really think we should want to miss out on the fun?" Elizabeth asked, shutting the door at last. She ran both hands through her head-hair and then took Benjamin in a fierce embrace. "We know how Irene shall enjoy this, don't we?"

Benjamin looked delighted, but he also gave Jonathan a concerned look.

"Don't mind me, Ben, we've talked about it," Jonathan said, and he scarcely had the words out before helping himself to a spot beside me on the bed, where he began to fondle my breasts most agreeably. I withdrew my hand from my pussy at last and took his erection in a warm, wet grip that inspired an appreciative gasp from him. Elizabeth would tell me later on that their talk about it had lasted all of half a minute before they both confessed that they were dying to join us. In those first moments of their presence, I was already able to guess as much!

"I haven't decided when to remove his short pants, Elizabeth," Irene warned.

"Yes, well, I have!" Elizabeth replied.

"That's hardly fair, is it!" Irene protested, though she was grinning in anticipation of a long look at both of her hirsute friends in the nude.

"Isn't it, though?" Elizabeth replied. "It is his penis, after all. I think he ought to be free to take it out for anyone he likes." To Benjamin she asked, "Do you care to take it out, my dear?"

"What does it look like?" he replied, helping himself to a run through Elizabeth's legendary triangle with his fingers. "Mmmmm, I should think Irene would like to be in my shoes right now."

"Or mine!" Elizabeth pulled down his short pants as quickly as she was capable of in her pleasure-addled state. "Oh, Benjamin, lovely!" He had found her clitoris, deep in its forest, and demonstrated that his touch was adept as ever after our lost years. "And one good turn deserves another!" With Benjamin finally, blissfully nude, she took his hard cock in a firm grip and soon had him just as worked up as he had her.

"Let's join them on the bed!" I heard Benjamin say. Elizabeth apparently agreed, for they landed with an uninhibited thump beside Jonathan and myself a moment later; but I took no notice of Elizabeth's reaction, for I was concentrating on teasing Jonathan into a tizzy by tickling his cock gently while he rubbed and kissed me into a most intense orgasm.

Once my screams of joy had subsided, I released my possibly-painful grip on Jonathan and opened my eyes to see Elizabeth and Benjamin had paused in their play to admire me. "We certainly taught you well, didn't we?" Elizabeth quipped.

"And how," I whispered in a lusty breath. After a pleasant moment of silence, I was once again aware of Jonathan's throbbing presence in my right hand. "Oh dear, I'm not done, am I?" I asked, and without waiting for a response I slid down and took him in my mouth.

As I was focused on bringing Jonathan off - and on his lovely moaning and wriggling about and rubbing my head as I went about it - I was not aware of Irene at last taking her dress off and joining us all on the bed. But she did, and in short order she took over both Benjamin's and Elizabeth's duties with one another, tickling them both mercilessly in their vast bushes. Their laughs and screeches mingled beautifully with Jonathan's moans. Though I was delighted with the taste and sensation of his hardness in my mouth and about my tongue, I did regret the missed opportunity to admire Elizabeth and Benjamin laughing side by side and clutching one another while Irene played in their pubes. That longing, perhaps, inspired a more intense approach on my part, and it seemed no time at all before Jonathan erupted with a roar above me and a splash in my throat. Though I never did care for that taste, I was always willing to tolerate it for the knowledge of the pleasure I had caused, never more than on that occasion.

"Thank you," Jonathan whispered. As if reading my mind, he added, "Sorry about the taste."

"It's not so bad," I reassured him, sitting up. Then a lovely idea occurred to me. "I know just how to cleanse my palate!" I stood up and walked around the bed, to where Elizabeth was perched on the other edge, lost in the throes of sensation as Irene was now fingering her as she was so very good at doing. "Hope you don't mind, dear," I said, but I stopped short of actually asking permission.

A sly grin through her intense moans revealed that she understood and did not object; and she even twisted around a bit to give me greater access. I leaned over and, hoping my hair tickled her a bit to add to the sensation, I latched gently on to her left breast. It was heaving about a bit as she approached orgasm, but I was nevertheless able to coax the sweet taste into my eager mouth. I was wonderfully aware of her intense breathing, and my own gentle touch was rewarded with an affectionate arm around my back as I suckled. Suddenly her hold on me strengthened a great deal and I found myself smashed up tightly against her bosom as Irene brought her to orgasm. I returned her hug as best I could in my awkward position, delighted to be sharing the beautiful moment with my dear friend.

When the climax had passed, I planted a kiss between Elizabeth's breasts and made to stand up. But she tightened her arm around me. "The other one, Agnes!" she ordered.

"I'm bursting here, too," Irene said behind me.

"I can help with that," said Benjamin, who had come right after Elizabeth. And so he and Irene switched places and the two young mothers found themselves suckling their friends side by side. When I had drunk my fill and stood back up, I was greeted with the sight of the pair of them holding hands and kissing as they enjoyed the wonderfully absurd situation.

I was not done, I realized. For all the wonderful adventures we had been through, and all the beautiful situations Elizabeth's magnificent ladygarden had inspired, I had never had the honour of tending to that garden myself. Presented with what was likely to be my one and only chance to rectify that, I found myself surprisingly reticent about it all. As I stood there admiring her majestic bush, I could not help but wonder if some mysteries were best left intact.

It took but a moment to conclude that this was not such a mystery! With Elizabeth's eyes still closed while she and Irene were busy with one another, I surprised her with an elegant swoop in and a long and luxurious kiss on her vulva.

Elizabeth responded immediately with a yelp of pleasant surprise. "Agnes! Oh my..."

"Isn't she brilliant at that?" Irene asked.

"Yesssssss..." That endorsement encouraged me all the more to make the most of this last chance; but of course I was already glad I had taken it. Her wet, furry musk filled my senses as that luxurious hair tickled my face and my tongue tickled her lips and clitoris. Gripping her hips with both hands, I teased the edges of her bush with all my fingers as my tongue worked its magic on her. Bobbing my head a bit in rhythm, I licked as hard as I dared, half-hoping I was doing a poor job so as to have an excuse to keep at it for a nice long time. Alas, I was well-practiced and inspired by this unique opportunity to make love to my idol, and it seemed as though I wasn't buried in her bush for long at all before I was rewarded with a beautiful screech and a jerk of her body. Delighted with my handiwork, I pulled back and looked up just in time to enjoy the view as much as the sound.

"So that's what I missed out on, never joining you and Irene," Elizabeth said.

"I missed out as much as you did," I said. "That was lovely!"

Elizabeth held out her arms to me. "Let me hold you, and let's watch this."

It was only as I was easing my way into her offer that I realized what 'this' was: Benjamin and Irene were fully engaged with one another next to us, he on top and she wrapping her legs tightly around his, kissing him passionately as if trying to make up for all those years in one hot moment. From where I lay beside them, it looked as though she might even succeed in that, for her responses were most intense indeed.

"How long have they been at it?" I asked.

"Since just after you went down on Elizabeth," said Jonathan, who I now saw was standing at the foot of the bed and stroking himself. "I think her responses inspired them!"

"They're certainly inspiring me, now," Elizabeth said. "How beautiful!" Indeed, Irene both looked and sounded beautiful as Benjamin thrust in and out, his entire body rigid and a look of absolute adoration in his eyes, which stayed open throughout so that he could see every bit of his lost love's joy. That joy was palpable for us all, and even at such close range I could only marvel at what Irene must be feeling! Elizabeth tightened her arms around me and Jonathan drank in the entire scene with great appreciation. All three of us were silent and still as Irene's orgasm rang out in every corner of the room, and likely all the way down the corridor as well. Thank heavens we had no guests that night!

"Come for me, Benjamin," she said once she had caught her breath. "Come for us all!"

"You know I will!" he grunted; and he pounded into her as rapidly as I had ever known anyone to do, drawing only encouragement from Irene in the form of breathless exhortations. These were soon rewarded with a breathless grunt as he came to rest, and Irene threw her arms around him. They remained silent and still and intertwined with one another, and I began to feel as though I ought to offer them some privacy - an absurd idea given the context, but something I felt nevertheless. Instead, I found myself rubbing Benjamin's shoulders with one hand and squeezing Elizabeth's hand with the other.

"All's well that ends well?" I did not intend it as a question, but I could hear that it emerged as such.

"I suppose it does," Elizabeth said, giving me a final squeeze and prodding me to let her out, as one of the babies had broken the silence simultaneously with my comment. She and Jonathan took their leave, and I, still uncertain about what to do next, also got out of bed and stood by the window. That perverse sense of false peace greeted me once again in the dark sky above and the quiet fields below, where once I had frolicked as a girl on school holidays and which - for the moment - young men were not dying by the hundred to defend. The horrid contrast of that near certainty with the passionate love implied by my nude body bathed in the warm light and white hot air was more than enough to cost me my final shred of composure, and I burst into tears. Tears of joy? Rage? Fear? Longing for that night to never end? All of that and more, dear reader, all of that and much more!

I know not how long I stood there at the window and sobbed. I do know Elizabeth soothed me with her incomparable gentle touch upon her return to the room, and that Jonathan was just behind her and that they both enveloped me in an embrace that must have caught the attention of Irene and Benjamin, though they remained in bed. Neither Elizabeth nor Jonathan had any need to ask what had upset me; everyone in the room - and quite possibly in the entire country - understood.

"It's okay, Agnes," Jonathan reassured me. "We're all scared."

"Let it out, you'll feel better," added Elizabeth.

"I already do," I assured them. "Thank you." Turning to see Irene and Benjamin snuggling together in a perfect tangle of joy, I asked, "Shall I sleep in the spare bedroom with the babies, do you think?"

"No," Irene said.

"That's right, you're joining us," Benjamin said. "No one should sleep alone tonight. Not after what we've all just done and before what's coming."

"I quite agree," Elizabeth told me. "I only wish the bed were large enough for all five of us. But failing that, Agnes..."

She and Jonathan kissed me on the lips in turn and released me, and hand in hand they retreated to the door. "Good night, everyone," Elizabeth said, her hand on the electric light switch. She did not turn it off until I had climbed into bed, sandwiching Benjamin between Irene and myself. My inhibitions evaporated immediately, for his body and the suggestion of hers on his other side were an absolutely delightful combination at a moment when I needed all the companionship I could find.

"Good night, Elizabeth and Jonathan," we three said in ragged harmony.

I curled my arm around Benjamin's side and gave his penis an affectionate squeeze, and ran my fingers through his pubic hair as best I could access it against Irene's body, which was pressed as closely as mine on the other side. He exhaled deeply in appreciation, and then I felt Irene's hand doing the same in turn, and finally giving mine an affectionate squeeze. There were no more words and no more tears, and I was left to enjoy the wonderful sensation of all three of our bodies wrapped up so tightly together in the warm dark.

Benjamin had four more days in Westfordshire City before his induction; but I saw little of him after that, as he and Irene spent most of their time alone together at his boarding house. She never spoke of just what they did to fill those hours, not even to Elizabeth or myself, but then she hardly needed to explain. It is just as well that I know nothing of exactly what they did in those days of limbo when we were all present but not together, for that frees me to remember that beautiful night as the finale. It was that memory of how right he and Irene felt together with me in my bed that would linger as the last and best taste of our glorious youth.

It was that memory that sustained me through the sunny yet poignant morning on which we all had a subdued breakfast at the café nearest Benjamin's boarding house and then saw him off at the train station; and the dark day scarcely a week beyond when the inevitable news arrived; and the exhilarating yet horrifying morning only days after that when I kissed Irene, Elizabeth and Jonathan goodbye and boarded the train to the coast for training and the first of what would be dozens of overseas assignments. It kept me as warm as could be expected when I was alone in my bed in the drafty armoury where we slept while awaiting our ships, and in my bunk aboard the ship as we sailed into hell. It offered a modicum of comfort against the horrors of war that I saw in Africa and later the Americas as I filed one account after another for the readers back home, and against the black fear I experienced each time I heard of Benjamin's latest posting, and when I received the inevitable news that Jonathan had also been called up. It sustained me as best anything could through the weeks and months between bits of news from either of them, or letters from Elizabeth and Irene.