Hanukkah Tradition Ch. 08

This is not just a holiday story but rather a tale of two newlyweds, Rachel and Geoffrey, who have begun a new holiday tradition on this, their first Hanukkah together. In the spirit of the holiday they are exchanging eight sexy gifts, one on each of the eight nights. You don't need to be Jewish to appreciate the story. Neither must you have read the other parts of the series but you might appreciate it more if you have. Enjoy!

"But does it have to be tonight?" he asked, sounding truly disappointed. We were both getting dressed this morning when I broke the news to him.

"Geoffrey, she's my oldest friend from college and she's only in town this week. I know we have this new Hanukkah tradition and everything but I hardly ever get to see her now that she's living in Los Angeles." In truth I'd been planning her visit for almost two weeks now and even the idea of it made me tingle all over.

"Rach, you know how much I like Jessica but I just...I'd hoped we'd have plenty of together time tonight." I knew that "together time" was only half of the story. Tonight was his turn to get a sexy present from me and he was anxious. He looked at me with those sad puppy dog eyes that I otherwise would have been unable to resist.

"Tell you what, Geoff. How about we have a nice holiday dinner with you and Jessica and I tonight, and I'll make it up to you tomorrow or something. Won't that be okay?" He lamely nodded. I knew he liked Jessica. They'd met several times before, most recently at our wedding. If it weren't for this new holiday custom he'd have welcomed the idea of us visiting enthusiastically.

Jessica really was one of my dearest friends. We were practically inseparable in college, and now that we were distanced by geography, we still visited each other as often as we could and caught up in between with phone calls late into the night.

~~~

When Geoffrey proposed this new sexy holiday tradition, I thought long and hard about what he'd like most. Although I rarely talked to Geoffrey about it, some of my sexiest fantasies involved my friend Jessica. Never for a minute did I consider myself to be a lesbian. I like big strong men too much. But there was something so charming and cuddly about her.

Jessica was very cute. Not a stunning beauty but there was something about the way she touched your shoulder when she talked or leaned in intimately close when she whispered in your ear. She exuded an easygoing sensuality and no one, it seemed, was immune. She had many men chasing her in college but she never really seemed to connect with any. Such was the case now, when she let me know last month that she had broken up with her latest love. This holiday she planned to stay with her parents here in town for the holiday.

Nearly two weeks ago I sat on the edge of the bed staring at the phone in my hand. My mind wandered back to college days when we roomed together and were as inseparable as sisters, with no secrets between us. Many nights we would climb into each other's bed talking until all hours of the night about the disastrous date we'd be on that night, or more often about our dreams for the future.

Living in the close quarters of a dorm room didn't afford us any room for modesty, which was just as well. We felt very comfortable together. Occasionally when she wasn't looking, I would steal glances at her beautiful naked body. Once or twice when I was changing, I thought maybe I caught her looking at me too but I never asked. People often assumed we were sisters since we spoke and looked somewhat alike, except her hair was beautiful chestnut brown next to my auburn and she was taller and statuesque while I had more curves. Everything about her oozed sexuality, from her pert little breasts to her sexy lilting grin that made men melt.

I closed my eyes, remembering a cool September night during our senior year. I was sitting at my desk, wearing a t-shirt and panties. The room was lit by one small desk lamp. I sat hunched over my books studying for my midterm. Jess was out with her latest love, Jeremy, and it was getting pretty late. I stood up to stretch, peering out through the window to see Jess running into our building, looking pretty upset. When she came in, she threw her coat on the bed and pulled out a bottle of Kahlua.

"Men suck," she announced, rummaging through the cabinets looking for plastic cups. Closing my books for the night, I sat on my bed while she poured us drinks. She'd had a bad night and I knew from experience that it was best not to ask questions but rather to listen until she spilled her guts. She shut off the desk lamp and started to change as I sipped the sweet brown liquor. The moonlight on her pale skin was breathtaking, or maybe that was just the Kahlua, I thought as she quickly stripped in front of me and put on a little t-shirt. Joining me in the bed, we cuddled up under the covers and she told me all about her disaster of an evening and how she caught Jeremy kissing some other woman in the back room at a party.

"Man, and I really liked him," she said, looking genuinely disappointed. It killed me to see her so upset and I moved to pull her close. Wrapping arms around each other, I hugged her, wishing I could protect her from hurtful things. The hug seemed to last for many minutes and I went from having maternal feelings to becoming acutely aware that our breasts were pushed together separated only by thin cotton t-shirts. Neither of us let go though and I was too afraid to say anything for fear of ruining the moment.

Jessica pulled away first, leaning close to me and looking directly into my eyes.

"You're a good friend, Rachel," she whispered, "And cuddly, too." We both giggled at that. I brushed her hair from her forehand and she leaned closer. The faint smell of liquor on her breath whispered over my lips. Meeting her half way, I leaned over to close the distance, my lips on hers. I'd never kissed a girl before and I was struck with how very different it was than a man. Soft - and her tongue tickled against my lips. We spent hours that felt like minutes in my little single bed, our hands roaming over each other, exploring. Somehow this didn't feel like a random night of experimenting but more like a very natural expansion of our close friendship.

That semester flew by, with a handful more occasions like that night, but in the end we both decided that men were better. We both dated and soon enough the school year was over - and never since have I experienced anything like that with another woman. Nor had I really any desire to. Geoffrey had asked me once during post-coital pillow talk if I'd ever thought about being with another woman. Without going into details about who or exactly what happened, I did confess that I'd done a little experimenting in college. This led to an encore performance from Geoffrey, who clearly found the idea to be amazingly erotic.

And so it happens that here it is a few nights before the beginning of Hanukkah and here I am sitting on my couch staring at the phone in my hand. Dialing her number from memory, my stomach fluttering inside. I was so giddy and nervous I could barely contain myself. After a few minutes of small talk, I finally got to the point and held my breath for the response.

"Rach, are you serious?" She sounded a little shocked.

"Well, yeah, Jess. I mean, only if you are into it. And it would just be a sort of one-time thing, no strings attached." Only silence on the phone, and suddenly I started to doubt how good an idea this was. The last thing I'd ever want to do is ruin our friendship.

"I'm sorry, Jess. It was just an idea. Let's just forget it," I said, my voice trailing off in a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.

"Just an idea?" she said, nearly shrill on the phone. "Just an idea!?" I winced, how could I have misjudged this situation so terribly? The flutter in my tummy turned to a sinking feeling and I didn't have the words to respond.

Jessica began giggling into the phone, and between guffaws she said, "This isn't just an idea...it's only the sexiest idea ever! I'm in!" Relieved, I started to laugh too. Jessica's happiness was always very contagious. We set about to scheming on the phone. This would truly be a surprise Geoffrey would never forget.

~~~

Geoffrey came home to hear Jessica and I giggling in the kitchen, fixing dinner together. He poked his head around the corner, caught us engaged in girl talk and rolled his eyes.

"What are you girls up to in here?" he asked, startling us both. I ran over and wrapped my arms around him for a big welcome home kiss and then pulled him over to Jessica.

"You remember Jessica, don't you, sweetie?" I asked.

"Of course, I do. How are you, Jessica?" he responded, smiling politely.

In a way only Jessica could get away with, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his ear, "No need to be so formal. We're nearly family!"

Geoffrey was slow to release her from his arms and looked over to me sheepishly. I already knew how cuddly Jessica could be and I'm sure he agreed. I smiled at Geoffrey, giving him permission to enjoy hugging my very cuddly friend, and before there was any uncomfortable silence between us, I encouraged him to go take a shower and change while we finished up dinner.

We put the finishing touches on our brisket with tiny red potatoes and carrots and Jessica poured us another glass of wine. We were both giggling and reminiscing as my handsome husband, fresh from the shower, peered around the corner to identify the racket. We both just looked at him and smiled innocently while he looked us over and judged us to be a little giddy from the wine. In truth, we were giddy but it was with excitement over the evening's coming events.

"How can I help, ladies?" he asked stepping into the kitchen.

Jessica watched him walk in, licking her lips while conspicuously looking him up and down. He was wearing the green sweater I'd gotten him a few days ago with my favorite of his jeans. Clearly I wasn't the only one who appreciated his strong shoulders and cute ass, I thought as Jessica ogled Geoffrey outside of his line of sight.

"I have a few things you can help me with!" Jessica said, half-joking.

Geoffrey turned slowly, grinning with one eyebrow raised in his "are you serious?" look. At that we all laughed. It was wonderful to see Geoffrey in a good mood. He'd long since gotten over any real disappointment over our plans being changed.

"I'm sure she means helping set the table, honey," I improvised. He grinned as he grabbed the dishes and silverware, then turned toward the dining room. And I thought again how lucky I am to have such a good-natured match.

Dinner was wonderful, though to be fair, I picked relatively simple dishes. I was much too nervous to coordinate an elaborate affair - no pun intended - and it wasn't really necessary. My loving husband pretty much enjoys anything I put in front of him and like me, Jessica's mind wasn't entirely on the dinner.

"What ever happened to that guy, Rach? What was his name?" Jessica asked at the dinner table.

I rolled my eyes. "Darren, his name was Darren," I replied slightly exasperated. "And let's just say, he's been more than replaced. He's been superceded." My mind momentarily flew back to a late night incident with Darren. He went too fast, I was in pain, he didn't care and that was that. I'll never forget the look of surprise on his face as I slammed and locked the door.

Geoffrey ate relatively quietly, watching us with fascination. I don't think he'd realized just how close we'd become in college and he was enjoying learning all this history about me. Somehow I had neglected to mention that for an entire semester I was a philosophy major, which Geoffrey found uproariously funny, considering I'm usually quite practical.

What Jessica thankfully didn't mention was the cause of my change in majors. I'd had a brief fascination with the new associate professor in the philosophy department. His turtleneck sweaters and tweed jackets with little suede elbow patches were just too cute. It was the pipe that drew me in initially. As he sat outside the campus coffee shop, I came up with some lame excuse to talk to him. By the end of the semester any illusion I had about philosophers being more thoughtful in bed were entirely shattered. After giving him a second chance (the first might have been jitters), I decided that in the end it would take more than a big pipe and suede elbows to make me happy.

"A man could get used to this," Geoffrey announced breaking me out of my deep thought. "Spending the evening with two beautiful women who are feeding me dinner." Jessica and I giggled and rolled our eyes.

"A toast," Geoffrey saidraising his glass and encouraging us to do the same. "To my beautiful wife and her charming friend. May we share many more evenings exactly like this one." Jessica and I looked at each other wide-eyed and simultaneously burst into laughter while Geoffrey just looked at us, silently trying to decipher the source of our mirth.

As we talked around the table, I marveled at how cute and flirtatious Jessica was. Men of all types were generally very taken with her and I could see my husband flirting back with great trepidation. I never doubted for a second that he loved me with all his heart and anything that might happen this evening would not change that. I silently wished I could convey to him that I was not jealous. That I wanted more than anything for him to feel as free with her as I did but I knew that soon that would be clear.

"Voila!" Jessica announced as she carried her dessert creation to the table. She laid the fruit trifle on the table and dipped a finger into the whipped cream on top. I watched with fascination as the delicate tip of her tongue licked the cream from her finger. The moment seemed to move in slow motion. I was transfixed as she brought her index finger to her lips and seductively tongued and enveloped the finger deep into her mouth. Suddenly the memory of her tongue licking my sensitive flesh many years ago flashed back in my mind and my pussy began to ache.

The moment was broken as Geoffrey, apparently himself quite transfixed, accidentally dropped his fork in a loud clash against the dessert plate. His eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise and desire and I could hardly blame him. Jessica looked at me and winked, then smiled innocently at Geoffrey as she offered him another finger-full of whipped cream. He stammered and declined, then jumped out of his chair to get the coffee. We both giggled at that and for a second I was struck with genuine guilt for the terrible teasing he had to endure this evening.

While in the kitchen, Geoffrey apparently caught his breath and thought about baseball or tax returns or whatever men do to stave off untimely erections. Teasing him was just so much fun though, especially when I knew that tonight would be the most amazing surprise yet.

Geoffrey sipped his coffee across the table as we all engaged in polite conversation. I slipped my foot up along his calf and his smile widened. His look quickly turned to shock because he wasn't sure it was my foot touching him and not Jessica's. I smiled broadly to put him at ease - at least until he felt another foot on his other calf. He glanced back and forth between Jessica and I, not knowing how he should react.

"Hey, you two aren't going to play footsie and leave out the guest, are you?" Jessica asked with a mischievous smile.

Geoffrey laughed uncomfortably and stood from the table. I asked him to wash the dishes and tidy up some since we had prepared dinner. He readily agreed, happy to momentarily have a task that would not result in more teasing. Jessica headed to the bedroom and I followed him into the kitchen.

"You okay, darling?" I asked, wrapping my arms around him and snuggling close.

"Of course, yeah, fine," he replied not very convincingly.

"Its late so I asked Jess to spend the night in the spare room. I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower before bed, all right?" My hand briefly slid down the front of his pants and I could feel his hardness straining against the cloth. He nodded and said he'd be up as soon as the kitchen was cleaned up.

Bounding up the stairs excitedly, I knew that now it was time to implement the main part of my plan. Jessica was upstairs, pulling our pre-chosen clothes out of the shopping bag as I ran into the room. She turned and our eyes locked for a second. We both knew this was the moment of truth.

She came toward me and we hugged, then she whispering into my ear, "This is it, Rach. You can change your mind now and no hard feelings. I want you to be sure." She looked at me with solemn eyes, holding her breath for my reply.

"I am absolutely sure, Jess. And goodness, that whipped cream thing! You even gave me a woodie." We both giggled and she gave me a quick peck on the lips before heading to the bathroom while simultaneously peeling off her clothes. I stripped quickly as well. I knew we didn't have much time to put this plan into action before Geoffrey would be upstairs.

Both naked, we climbed into the shower while trying to keep our giggling to a minimum. We both grabbed a bar of soap and began to lather up. I wanted so desperately to reach out and touch her and feel her beautiful body with my soapy fingers. Not wanting to rush anything, I waited for a sign from her. The sign was in the form of Jessica stepping closer to me as the warm water washed over both of us and running her soapy hands over my chest. I closed my eyes, allowing the pleasure of her delicate fingers to explore my body. God, how I'd missed her touch.

In the interest of time we soaped each other and, when Jessica's hand slid down over my hairless mound, she quietly gasped.

"Oh, Rachel, I love it. Here, hand me the razor. I want to be as naked as you."

I leaned against the cool tiles as I continued to wash myself, transfixed by the site of my dearest friend spreading her legs and expertly shaving over her cute mound until she was as bare as I. She pulled my hand to her pussy to inspect if for smoothness. In truth, I couldn't wait to touch it with more than my fingers. We knew that time was short so we rinsed each other off and shared a passionate kiss that promised much more before turning off the water and climbing out.

As we'd planned, we each slipped into matching red lace bras and thong panties. Each was made of a lace that in actuality covered nothing. Jessica's coral-colored nipples and smooth pussy were clearly visible through the thin lace, as were mine. I could already feel a wet spot forming on the thong that had wedged deliciously between my cheeks. We quickly brushed each other's hair and put on the finishing touches before sitting on the edge of the bed in front of the door. I heard my darling downstairs starting the dishwasher and begin to come up the stairs. My tummy was filled with butterflies as the doorknob twisted and creaked open.

The door opened to a darkened room and Geoffrey stepped inside without noticing us on the bed. He stepped over to the walk-in closet and began to unbutton his shirt before poking his head out to look for me. When he saw us on the bed, he looked shocked, taking a gulp and trying to decide what this meant. I decided not to let him suffer.

"Happy Hanukkah, darling!" I announced. I had expected him to look happy - or at least excited - but he just stood there transfixed. I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and explained.

"Geoff, remember how I mentioned I'd experimented a little in college?" I heard Jessica giggling behind me. I continued, "Well, Jessica is very cuddly, isn't she? She's agreed to be your Hanukkah present tonight."

Geoffrey grinned but appeared to be choosing his words carefully. "Rachel, you know I love you. I don't need anyone else." I kissed him, conveying that I knew he loved me and this wouldn't change that. Jessica walked up beside me and also wrapped her arms around my husband, pulling him toward her lips for a kiss. I stood back and watched as their chaste peck quickly transformed into a passionate kiss. Geoffrey wrapped his arms around Jessica, pulling her tight against him.