Helping Hands

"Thank you. I finally feel like I have a reason to want to look nice, again," she said in an almost shy way. Zack found it one of the most desirable things about her. She had this way of seeming to be unaware of just how incredibly gorgeous she was. Then again, she'd been married for a lot of years and perhaps her husband had taken her beauty for granted. Zack knew he never would. "You look very nice tonight yourself, Dr. Bartlett," she told him smiling that smile that always slayed him.

As they ate, the conversation flowed as though they'd been discussing important issues for years. "So where are you politically?" he asked her.

"Disgusted," she said managing not to laugh. "How about you?"

"I'll second that. I'm pretty much sick of it all. I mean, why would any good, decent person ever run for office and put up with so much...crap and be hated by everyone else in the other Party?"

Kendall laughed and told him she agreed. "What about religion? God, faith, church."

"No, no, and no," he told her. "I strongly support the First Amendment and want people to believe as they please, but it's not for me."

"So science and reason are your Gods?" she asked without accusation.

"No. Not at all. I'm very open to the idea of God as long as he himself tells about everything. I'm just not open to other human beings telling they know who he is and what he wants."

"That makes a lot of sense. I never really thought about it like that. I've just always assumed Someone is 'up there' but never gave it any real thought. I suppose it gave me hope I'd see Robert again some day. I haven't been to church since I was eight years old so it's not a big deal to me."

"You still miss him, don't you? Robert, of course," Zack said.

"I do," Kendall said getting serious for a moment. "Like all marriages we had our problems, but he was a good, decent man. I was very young when I married him and only had a couple of real boyfriends. I dated quite a few guys, but never got really serious with any of them. And then Robert came along and I was just starstruck, you know? He was older and handsome and had so much energy."

Zack noticed her enthusiasm had tailed off and was hesitant to ask but felt he needed to so he said, "Did things change?"

The oven alarm went off and Kendall said, "Saved by the bell?"

He followed her into the kitchen and asked if he could help with anything. "Would you mind pouring the wine?" she asked as she pulled the bread out of the oven.

"That smells SO good!" he told her and it did.

She sliced the lasagna into squares and put a large piece on Zack's place then added a piece of warmly-buttered French bread sprinkled with garlic salt. A tossed salad completed the food portion while a red merlot finished the meal.

Kendall sat down next to him and Zack picked up his wine glass and raised it in front of him. "To the spirit of trying?" he suggested.

Kendall laughed briefly and said, "That's perfect. To the spirit of trying!"

They touched glasses but before taking a sip Zack leaned over and kissed her softly. "Bon appetite," she said as their lips parted.

"The wine is excellent," he told her.

"I'm glad you like it. I don't know much about wine and can't afford anything really fancy, but for $15 this does taste pretty good, doesn't it?"

She waited for him to take a bite and asked, "So...what's the verdict?"

Zack's eyes told her everything. "Oh, my God! This is the best lasagna I've ever had."

"I made it from scratch," she said without bragging. "I'm glad you like it." She took a bite herself and said, "Mmmm. It is pretty good."

A few moments later she said, "I guess things did change. With Robert, I mean. Then again, I suppose they always do over time, right?"

Zack didn't feel like discussing his parents at the moment and asked, "It would seem so. Was the change a...bad kind of change?" as he took another bite.

Kendall took a small sip of wine and said, "I don't know. Maybe. We were both just so busy all the time, you know? The ranch, riding lessons, worrying about money." She pushed the food around on her plate for a while without eating and Zack waited patiently for her to continue. "We didn't really fight a lot. Not the yelling kind anyway. We just sort of...drifted apart. The last few years we almost never went out. We still talked to one another, but it was always about business. We seemed more like partners than..."

"Than lovers?" he asked.

"Yeah." She looked over at him and said, "It's so sad, you know? You marry someone and have all these dreams and expectations and then you find out the reality of it is so different."

"It doesn't have to be," he told her.

She still hadn't taken a bite, but she'd stopped pushing her food around. "How about you, Zachary? Has there been anyone serious in your life?"

He took a deep sigh and before he could speak Kendall said, "I won't care how many girls there've been. You're young, away at college and you're...very handsome. I'm just curious if anyone ever captured your heart. That's all."

He set his fork down and told her, "Yes, there were quite a few um...hook-ups, but no one ever stole my heart. There was a professor however, who opened my mind to the possibility that the only woman I'd ever truly lov...cared about...might not be out of reach."

"Oh, so you had an affair with this...professor?" she asked without accusation.

"I did. She was 42 and..."

"So you don't necessarily find age to be too big a problem?" The way she asked the question made him think she hoped to hear a certain answer.

"Just the opposite. It made me realize older women really are like fine wine." She smiled at him and he told her, "It's not a line, Kendall. It's absolutely true."

"Okay," she said. "Please go on."

"Well, that relationship showed me that older women don't see the world like girls say...Cass's age. They have this um...more mature outlook on life." Kendall smiled sweetly but didn't speak. "It taught me that if I could find the right...older woman..." he reached out and brushed her back behind her ear again before continuing. "If I could find her, I'd much rather be in a relationship with her than anyone my age or especially Cass's age ever again."

"I guess it's lucky for Cass there are guys like Barrett out there, huh?" Her eyes 'twinkled' as she spoke and Zack just smiled back.

Kendall looked away before asking quietly, "So...do you think you'll ever find this...older woman?"

"Well, you see, the good news is I have. In fact, I'd found her a long time ago. It was just that I didn't know until this other relationship ended and things suddenly became very clear." He put his hand on her upper back and said, "Of course, she wasn't available until I had this um, relatively recent revelation, and now I'm just hoping she might think I'm as important to her as she is to me."

Kendall still hadn't looked at him. She pushed her food around some more as she said, "She sounds like a very lucky girl. I'm...I'm kind of envious."

"Actually, I'd be the lucky one were she to ever tell me she thought that way about me. You see, she's been not only a dream and a young boy's fantasy, but the only woman I've ever loved."

Kendall's fork fell out of her hand as Zack softly stroked the soft, silky hair below his hand.

"Zack?" she said very quietly. "I don't want things to change with us."

Zack felt like he'd just been shot through the heart. His biggest fear had been Kendall telling him she didn't want a relationship ruining their friendship and here she was unloading the mother of all bombshells on him.

"We'll still be friends, Kendall. Even if we were to take things to the next level. That won't change."

She still hadn't even looked at him and the pit in his stomach was growing. Finally she looked over at him and said, "How did you get through college and veterinarian school when you're this clueless?"

Her eyes were now dancing with his, moving quickly back and forth. "I'm not worried about losing our friendship because we sleep together. I just don't want you to ever take me for granted."

"Kendall, what are you saying?" he asked as his heart began racing.

"I'm saying..." She turned toward him and said, "I love you too, Zachary. At least I think I do." She turned her chair sideways and took his hands. "I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even think. Unless it's about you. And every time I do I get this feeling that's so strong and so...wonderful I...I just want to be with you."

He leaned closer to her and said softly, "You do?"

He reached up and touched her face as she whispered, "Uh-huh."

"So are you saying you'd like to...be together...with me?"

"Uh-huh," she said even softer. "I told Barrett to find somewhere else to stay tonight and I'd hate to think it was for no good reason."

"That wouldn't be nice at all, would it?" he said as he traced a circle around her cheek with his finger.

"No, not at all," she said. "I'm not really very hungry right now."

"I'm pretty full myself," he whispered back.

"So maybe we could...be together for a while and see if that might make us feel more like eating."

She kissed him softly at first then put her arms around his neck and said, "I want to be with you, Zack."

He reached underneath her chair and lifted her up his arms as they kissed. "You know where the bedroom is, right?" she said between kisses.

"I do," he told her as he carried out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the back of the house.

"Not that one," she said as he stood just outside the master bedroom. "In there," she said nodding toward another room. "I don't want old memories interfering with new ones, okay?"

Zack couldn't understand everything that meant to Kendall, but he did understand she didn't want to make love in the same bed where she'd slept with her husband all those years.

He laid her on the bed. "Can I watch you undress?" she said looking up at him. As he began unbuttoning his shirt she told him, "I used to watch you working with your shirt off when it hot out."

"You did?" he said as he stripped it off. He quickly kicked off his shoes then went to work on his socks.

"Uh-huh. I even fantasized about us."

He smiled and said, "I thought you told me you never thought about me...like that...before."

"I didn't. That was just fantasy." She reached out for his hand and pulled him down on top of her and said, "This...is reality." She ran her hand over his chest and said, "You are so gorgeous. I've dreamed about doing this so many times. I just never thought I'd actually be doing it."

He kissed her passionately and was immediately rewarded with her sweet tongue. Within seconds, she took his hand and placed it on her large, soft breast. As he gently squeezed, Kendall sighed softly. "That feels so good," she moaned. "I want you so bad, Zack," she said huskily.

She reached for his belt as he slid his hand underneath her top and cupped her breast. "Mmmm," she softly cried out. Zack helped her with his pants and wriggled out of them and kicked them onto the floor.

She raised up and he unzipped her skirt and she in turn, helped him slide it off of her. She smiled and pushed him hard, rolling him over onto his back. "I see something else I've fantasized about." She reached into his boxers and found what she was looking for.

"You feel so good," she told him as she ran her hand up its entire length bringing him to life. He raised up and she quickly removed his underwear. She looked at him for the first time and said, "It's beautiful."

She stroked him with her right hand as she hungrily sought his kiss. Zack pulled her top off and quickly unhooked her bra, dropping it on the floor beside them. "You are so incredibly beautiful," he told her.

Kendall continued to stroke his hardened cock as he rolled her back over and kissed her. He moved down to her large, natural breast and took as much as he could into his mouth and began softly sucking. "Oooo!" she cried softly. "That feels so good."

He moved to the other side then back again as she kept him hard. "Roll back over," she told him. This time she slid down toward his huge shaft as he lay on his back. She took it in her hand and said, "It really is beautiful, Zack," as she lowered her warm mouth onto it.

"Oh...fffuck!" he groaned as she sucked on the head and ran her tongue around the tip.

"Do you like that?" she asked never taking her eyes off of his.

"Very much," he groaned. "God, you're beautiful!" he told her as she took him deeper. Kendall slowly rode him with her mouth, up and down, up and down, over and over again.

"You taste so good," she told him as she came up briefly before taking him as far as she could. Zack placed his hand behind her head and gently pushed her down each time. "I like that," she told him during another quick break before taking deep and holding herself there. She went to come up but Zack held her down. Kendall didn't fight him telling him she didn't mind. When she began to gag, he let her come up. She was gasping for air but smiling at him. "I love that, too," she said. Maybe her eyes really did twinkle was Zack's first thought among many when she looked at him that way.

As she went back for more, he grabbed her hair and stopped her. He pulled on it and Kendall followed his lead. He lay her on her back and went directly downtown.

The way Kendall gasped when he parted the camel's toe and softly licked her clit for the first time was amazing. Her body arched as she hissed with pleasure. "God, YES!!" she cried as his tongue worked its magic. Her hands were desperately reaching for him and found their place behind his head. "You are such a beautiful man," she cried as he continued to pleasure her. "Oh...GOD that feels so good!" she nearly screamed.

Kendall whimpered and moaned as Zack alternated between using his tongue and the tip of his finger on her swollen nub. Kendall's breathing was getting very deep as he pushed hard with his tongue. He began sliding in a first finger when it felt like she was going to push his head through her entire body. "Oh...my...GOD!!" she cried as she came hard.

Zack's face was buried in her pussy and he fought off the urge to laugh as his nose plunged inside her. "Oh God, oh God, oh GOD!!" she called out again. "That is so...amazing!"

"Let me grab a condom," he said reaching toward the floor.

Kendall grabbed him and pulled him on top of her. "I want you, Zack. Now. Right now!"

He towered over her and looked into her eyes. "I want you too, Kendall."

"Make love to me...please!" she cried. She reached for his thick cock and let him know where to push. "Get inside me," she begged. "Just be easy at first, okay?"

"I will," he told her. He began pushing and the popped in effortlessly. The fit was tight and warm and...amazing.

"Mmmm," she purred. "More, please!"

Zack back out and re-entered her and took her deeper this time. "You okay?" he asked.

"Perfect," she assured him. "Take me deeper? Please?"

Zack backed up then did just that. He took her slowly and went deeper until he was buried inside her to the hilt. "Fuck, yes!" she moaned. "God, your cock feels SO good inside me!"

Kendall's legs were spread wide and held high. As Zack began to fuck her harder, she reached up and held her legs. "God yes!" she said as he rocked her hard. "Just like that!" she begged.

He banged her hard then slowed down until she asked for more then pounded her harder only to once again slow down until she begged for it again.

"Turn me over," she said desperately. Kendall flipped herself over and got on her knees as she offered herself to him doggy style.

Zack re-entered her and Kendall moaned loudly. He stroked her several times then without warning, spanked her ass cheek with his hand. Kendall yelped then called out, "Fuck...yes! I love that!"

Zack slapped her sharply several more times as Kendall pushed back hard on each stroke, crying out with pleasure each time she was spanked. He was hammering her very hard and had his hands on her waist. He knew she was getting close. As he drilled her hard he said, "Does my little girl like getting spanked? Does that turn her on?"

Kendall literally screamed out, "YES! I fucking love it! Spank my ass! Hard!"

Zack removed both hands and turned both ass cheeks into bright red balls as he repeatedly slapped them. In just seconds, Kendall's body tensed again as cried out, "Oh my fucking GOD!!"

Zack felt her squeezing his cock as she reached for her pussy and rubbed her clit as he came, too. Kendall's screams turned to whimpers as he filled her with his hot cum. When he finished he stayed inside and leaned over pressing his chest to her back.

Her breathing was loud and hard but he heard something else. He pulled out of her and rolled her over. "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Did I hurt you? Kendall, please. Talk to me."

She was shaking her head as she wiped her tears. "No. You didn't hurt me." She threw her arms around him and said, "I know it's silly, but that's how I always fantasized making love should be. Both people giving and taking without embarrassment and...and you gave me that." She lifted him up so he was looking into her eyes as she said, "That's what changed, Zack. We...Robert and I...never did that. We rarely even...did it, but it was never like that. Do you understand?"

Her eyes were desperate for his need to understand. "Yes. I understand," he told her.

"Promise me this won't change. Ever. Promise me, Zack."

He stroked her face and said, "I promise, sweetheart. I promise."

Her tears fell again as she told him, "I am so happy. Zack, I have never been this happy in my entire life." In spite of her tears he felt her happiness coming through loud and clear.

"Me, either," he said as he kissed her. "You don't have to say it back, but I have to say it," he began. Her eyes were moving rapidly between his as he spoke, "I'm in love with you, Kendall. I am so very in love with..."

"I love you too, Zachary. I am in love with you, too. I'm sorry for crying. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I really am SO happy." She managed a smile and said, "And so in love."

He kissed her and felt himself growing hard. "Mmmm. Please tell me that's for me," she teased.

He just smiled back at her as he pushed and slid back inside. "Oh, that feels SO incredible," she told him as she held him as hard as she could.

The next morning Zack opened one eye and realized where he was. He saw Kendall sitting on the bed, her legs crossed in front of him just looking at him. "Hi there," he said, his throat still not ready to talk. "Did you sleep?" he asked her.

"Not really," she told him. "I didn't want to sleep."

"No?" he said trying to sit up.

"It's okay, honey. Just stay there. I like watching you sleep."

"I'm glad," Zack mumbled.

"I like making love with you, too. A lot," she said as she ran her hand through his hair. She laid next to him her face directly in front of his. "Do you still love me?" she asked playfully.

Zack opened both eyes and forced himself to sit up. He took her hands in his and said, "I will always love you, Kendall. Always. That will never change. I promise."

"I know," she said with a bright smile. "I just like hearing you say it." She moved over and sat beside him and said, "Tell me again," as she put put her arms inside his.

Not having a place of his own yet, Zack paid for a motel each night that week until Sunday when they met at her place to go riding with Barrett and Cass.

Friday evening was the first time either of them mentioned it but Kendall said as they lay in bed together, "How would you feel about moving in with me?"

"Pretty good, actually" Zack told her. "I was talking to a realtor this week about getting my own apartment so we don't have to do...this anymore."