Isabel

"Okay," Ingrid said brightly. Charles backed up, and when Ingrid had moved between Sophia's legs, retook his position behind her.

Isabel reached up and slipped her fingers into the waist of Ahmed's slacks. As she pulled him toward her, he unfastened them. She tugged on the side of the legs and they tumbled down, revealing his large uncut penis. It was half erect, but when Isabel lifted it and put it in her mouth, it quickly stiffened.

She smiled at Sophia. "I imagine you've been enjoying this," she said.

"Very much," Sophia moaned.

Isabel twirled her tongue around Ahmed's cock and then kissed the tip. She lifted her legs onto the couch and laid back, resting her head on Sophia's thigh. Ahmed kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his slacks. He climbed on the couch, grasped Isabel's ankles and raised them in the air. He moved in closer and she rested her legs on his shoulders. He licked his fingers and then ran them down along her labia.

"Don't worry dear, I am already quite wet," Isabel said.

He took his cock in his hand and rubbed it up and down and eventually pressed it into her waiting pussy. Sophia stroked her hair and looked down at her.

"It's good, yes?" she asked.

"Very good," Isabel purred.

Ahmed slipped his hands beneath Isabel and raised her, sliding his thighs under her hips. She hooked her heels together behind his waist and held him tight, while he fucked her with an upward hitching movement that made her almost delirious. When he reached down and thumbed her clit, she exploded with pleasure. It had been a long time since she had been really well fucked, and Ahmed was incredible. He kept going, without slowing down, and it wasn't long before she had another strong orgasm.

All the energy seemed to drain out of her as it subsided. She felt limp; her legs dropped from his waist and dangled over his hips. He continued to thrust into her for a few more minutes, then she saw his face change. His eyes seemed to glaze over and his mouth gaped open. He gave a hard thrust into her and then froze. She thought again of a bronze statue, but then he seemed to shake all over and his shoulders drooped. He leaned back and his cock sprang free, dribbling the last of his issue into her pubic curls. She reached down and ran her fingertips through it, then raised them to her lips and, gazing into his eyes, slowly licked them clean.

At some point Charles and Ingrid had left the room, but Isabel had not noticed. Sophia was still there, Isabel's head was still resting on her thigh. She leaned down and kissed Isabel.

"Did that girl satisfy you?" Isabel asked.

"I am afraid not," Sofia said, She made a good effort, but she has a lot to learn."

"As your hostess, I am mortified. I must make recompense to you."

She rolled on her side and Sophia turned in her seat, lifting one foot up onto the couch cushions and leaning back against the arm.

Ahmed got up, saying he needed to use the bathroom. Isabel stretched out prone on the couch and kissed all around Sophia's inner thighs and mound. She pushed two fingers into her hole, sliding them in and out while her tongue flicked along her labia. She kissed her hard on the hood of her clit, then lowered her lips over it. Ahmed came back and stood at the end of the couch, leaning down over Sophia, kissing her and caressing her breasts. Isabel's tongue drew crazy patterns on and around Sophia's clit. The two of them quickly brought her to a trembling climax.

Isabel slid up across Sophia's body and lay on top of her. Ahmed squatted beside the two women, and the three of them exchanged kisses.

After a few minutes, Isabel sat up.

"I wonder what's going on upstairs," she said.

Her dress was still bunched around her waist. When she stood, it slipped it down and she stepped out of it. Ahmed helped Sophia to her feet and the three of them went up the stairs.

As they ascended, they could hear a cacophony of moans and grunts and slapping flesh. They entered Isabel's bedroom. Charles was stretched on his back across the bed, Natalie vigorously riding his cock. Ingrid was next to them on her knees and elbows, her head bouncing up and down in Martin's lap while Kurt pounded her from behind.

"My God," Isabel cried, "Such goings-on in my own bed!"

"Come join us," Natalie said.

"Perhaps in a bit, darling."

There was an easy chair in the corner of the room and Isabel sat down. Natalie climbed off of Charles and Sophia took her place. Isabel was impressed to see that Ahmed had already achieved another erection. He stood at the foot of the bed and Sophia bent down and took it in her mouth.

Natalie squeezed into the chair next to Isabel. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. Natalie rested her head on Isabel's shoulder. "You've always known how to throw a good party," she said.

"The secret is the right mix of guests."

"And the right mix of alcohol."

"That is certainly a consideration. By the way, before they leave you absolutely must fuck Ahmed. He is an artist."

"I have been looking at that ass."

"How was Kurt?"

Natalie laughed. "He is the little fuck engine that could."

"Well, I will have to give him a try."

After a quiet moment, Natalie hugged Isabel a little tighter and said, "Bella, do you remember that first day we met, going into Higginson's Psych class?"

"Of course, I do."

"Do you know that I had seen you before, and I really wanted to meet you? I nearly swooned when you started talking to me."

"Really? You didn't show it."

"It's true. I had a crush on you even before we met."

Isabel laughed and shook her head. "But you were so sophisticated, and I looked like a ragamuffin from the streets."

"No, you were the big city girl, I was the bumpkin for New Brunswick."

"A beautiful bumpkin."

Natalie kissed Isabel's cheek. "I was so confused. I had wanted a woman lover for so long, and when I met you, I knew you were the woman I wanted. But I wanted to be your best friend even more, and I couldn't imagine that I could be both."

"And look at us now," Isabel replied with a smile.

"Yes," Natalie said, "Look at us now."

"Do you remember asking me if we had become whores?"

"I do."

"I don't think we did, but my god, if we did, we were awfully good at it."

****

Isabel was not pleased to have to get up so early, but Deena had insisted that, to do justice to the painting, she needed to start it in the morning light. When Isabel arrived shortly after seven, Deena greeted her with a cup of Irish coffee.

"Well, that certainly helps with matters," Isabel said, "Although you may end up with a painting of me yawning with my eyes half shut."

"There's plenty more coffee where that came from," Deena replied with a grin.

Deena's studio was in a small out building that had once been a stable or a carriage house. With a sunroof and the wide open doors letting in the golden early light, Isabel understood why Deena had asked her to come so early. Near the center of the floor, where the light was brightest, there was a wooden partition, painted a neutral flat white. A purple and gold Persian rug covered the floor in front of it.

"That will be the backdrop," Deena said. "I'm going to start setting things up. If you don't mind, would you like to undress?"

"I seldom mind," Isabel said. She stripped off her clothes and laid them on the side table, while Deena went behind the partition and came back with several large bags of cushions and pillows.

"Shall I leave my shoes on?" Isabel asked.

Deena looked at Isabel's white ankle strap high heels. "Yes, I think you should. And the pearls as well."

"That goes without saying," Isabel said.

Deena set a low stool down in front of the partition. She arranged colored pillows behind and around it, then beckoned Isabel forward.

Isabel sat on the stool and Deena took several steps backward. She moved from side to side, considering all angles. After a moment she raised her hand and said, "Wait, I think I have an idea."

She disappeared into the rear of the studio and came back a moment later holding a gossamer robe.

"A little bit of clothing is more enticing than complete nudity, don't you think?"

Isabel agreed, and slipped on the robe. It was nearly transparent. Deena picked up a camera and began snapping pictures of her as she tried various poses. She sat on the stool with her legs crossed, leaned backward, bent forward, turned to first one side and then the other.

Deena frowned. "I'm not feeling that any of these poses are catching the essence of 'who is Isabel?'"

Isabel pondered for a moment, then smiled. She remembered Marianne's advice. She leaned back into the pile of pillows, and stretched her left arm out to her side, her silver bracelets dangling from her wrist. She raised one leg on to a cushion and spread her legs wide, then licked the fingers of her right hand, and slid them along her labia, wetting them just enough to made them glisten. She touched her hand to the strands of pearls that hung down across her breasts.

"Get your brushes," she said, with the slightest hint of a smirk on her face, "And we will let the world see me as my true self."

EPILOGUE

A few years later...

Isabel nibbled on a macaron, then flicked the crumbs from her fingers. She shielded her eyes with her hand and watched as a large bird circled over Merganser Pond.

"Is that an eagle?" Natalie asked.

"Leelee, you have been coming to Maine every summer for more than ten years. How is it that you still can not distinguish an eagle from an osprey?"

Natalie shrugged. "I suppose because it is not important to me."

"Well, then, I needn't tell you which it is."

"I love it when you are bitchy."

"If I am bitchy, it is because I anticipate a boring summer."

"You say that every year," Natalie chuckled, "But you always manage to find some adventure."

"Well, if I can't find anything exciting to do, I can at least gossip about those who do."

"Are you referring to me?"

"Well, you are a remarkable slut," Isabel said, taking a sip of her iced tea. "I am sure you will provide me with some entertainment."

"Speaking of gossip, Ben Kaplan told me that there is now a female forest ranger patrolling about, and that she is, as he put it, a real hottie."

"Well, perhaps I will have to call their office and report that the moose are trampling about my garden."

"Are they?"

"Of course not, silly, but a false encounter with a moose might lead to a real encounter with our new rangerette."

"That may be, but just because she is a ranger, that does not mean she is susceptible to your sapphic machinations."

"No, of course not. The fact that she enjoys gallivanting about the wilderness, wearing muddy boots and wrestling bears should not be taken as any sort of a hint to her erotic proclivities."

She refilled her glass of tea. "More for you, darling?" she asked.

"No, I should go."

Natalie stood, then leaned down and kissed Isabel. She turned to walk away and was on the steps to the driveway when Isabel called her name.

"Natalie, do you know that I love you very much?"

"Of course I do," Natalie said. She blew Isabel a kiss, then turned and left.

Isabel stood, placed the two empty glasses back on the tray with the cookies and the pitcher of tea, and took them inside.

She went back out to the garden, and admired the roses she had grown from cuttings of her mother's bushes. They were in full bloom and the air was heavy with their fragrance. She reminded herself to come back later and cut a few to put in a vase by her bedside.

The sound of a motor drifted up from the road. She recognized it as the postman's truck. She walked down the long driveway to retrieve her mail, although it would most likely be advertisements from that sad little grocery store in Saw Whet, or fliers from some local enterprise offering their bush hogging services. She still had no idea what bush hogging was.

The mail truck puttered away as she neared the end of the driveway, but she heard another engine approaching. A vehicle came around the bend in the road and she saw that it was one of those ugly green forest ranger jeeps. She'd only met one forest ranger, that old gent who looked like an aging cowboy in the movies, the one with a funny name. Pinky? Something like that. As the vehicle came closer, though, she realized the driver was a young woman, obviously the new ranger Natalie had told her about.

She waved at the jeep, then leaned on the mailbox while it slowed to a stop. The driver was, in fact, very pretty, although she certainly needed someone to teach her about makeup and how to manage her unruly dark hair.

"Ooh," Isabel said, "The rumor around the pond was that we had a lovely lady ranger in town. I see that it is true."

The ranger smiled with just a hint of shyness."Yes, hi. I'm Ramona Greentree."

"Isabel Saucier." She held out her hand, wrist bent. Ramona took it and gave it a squeeze and a gentle shake.

"Pleased to meet you," she said.

"I certainly hope you are," Isabel said, stepping closer to the jeep...

Author's Note: Isabel returns in The Adventures of Ranger Ramona.