Kat & Gus Ch. 02

WHEN KAT GOT HOME, she locked the bolt and, without turning on a single light, headed straight for her bedroom. She slowly stripped out of her navy jersey dress, hanging it carefully in the closet. Then she set about searching for her favorite nightgown; as she knelt beside the bed and ran her hand underneath in pursuit, all her control crumbled.

"Shit!" she exhaled.

Gus could not become a problem for her again. It had taken the past two months to forget the first time he had kissed her. It might take a lifetime to forget the weeks that followed their first kiss. Despite everything, Gus had been good for her. She had loved being with him, exploring a side of herself she didn't know existed. She had been a little wilder, a lot freer, and she wasn't quite sure she'd ever get that back. Kat settled back onto her heels, her hands braced against the side of the mattress. "Shit, shit, shit!" she cursed.

The memories of that first night, in the height of the August heat, came flooding back. Audra had had a hankering for a cold drink and a warm bed, so the two of them headed to a favorite pub down by the water. It was the kind of place that would be filled with single men and few women; a little dark and very dirty, The Horse suited Kat just fine. The bar might look unsavory, but it was completely safe. Audra could find someone to scratch her itch, and Kat could order a lager with lemonade, watch the game on every television, eat handfuls of peanuts, and throw the shells on the floor. She could also flirt outrageously with all the bartenders and laugh as loudly as she wanted before heading home alone.

That particular night, the girls got to the pub around 11, a little drunk off their wine from dinner. As they settled into two stools by the bar, Kat noticed a rather fit looking guy across the way. Not wanting Audra to see him just yet, Kat stared appreciatively. He was tall, about 6'1" she guessed, and muscular in that unaffected way that only men seem able to pull off. "God," she whispered when he turned around. His face was remarkable, full of angles, high cheekbones, and deep set bluish grey eyes. He had the perfect amount of scruff along his chin and a floppy piece of dark hair that fell onto his forehead. And his smile -- a little lopsided but completely genuine and dazzlingly bright -- was utterly disarming.

He was at the other end of the bar, seemingly engrossed in the baseball wrap-up that was playing on the television. Every chance Kat got, she'd look over at the man. He was frustratingly attractive and proving to be quite distracting. She could barely keep track of Audra's stories.

"What is going on with you?" her friend asked, bemused. "I haven't seen you this distracted since we were 15 and you fell in love with our French teacher."

"Oh my god," Kat poked Audra. "That's not true! And I won't argue with you about Monsieur D'Arleux again. I didn't fall in love with him; it was a crush. You had one, too. Hell, most of the boys had crushes on him! He was super hot and a former pro-soccer player. And, anyway, I'm not distracted. I'm intrigued by that guy over there. He's definitely the hottest guy I've ever seen at this place. I can't stop looking at him."

Audra dramatically turned around and stared at the stranger. She ran her eyes down his body. "He is pretty hot," she conceded. "I'd do him. But," Audra smiled, "I see that you would really like that for yourself, and you need a good romp more than me, so I'll be charitable. Let's call him over."

Kat smacked her friend's arm, and turned back to the bar whispering, "Please! The minute he sees you, Audra, he won't want anything to do with me. You're the exotic, impetuous, crazy fun one with the sexy international career. I'm drab and boring. And predictable. No one wants that."

Audra smiled at her friend, "You're such a dope. And I don't think he even knows I'm here, not the way he's looking at you right now." Audra fanned herself, then sat up straight on her barstool. "Katie, how long exactly have you been staring at him? Oh! Shit, don't tell me now. He's coming over!"

Kat swirled around on her stool and was confronted with the man's chest. Raising her eyes, she saw that he was even more gorgeous up close. She was sure that she was blushing like crazy, and she had to remind herself to breathe. Why had he come over? Kat desperately re-examined her behavior since arriving at the pub -- perhaps she had been staring too often, perhaps he had noticed her. It did seem that she caught him looking at her a couple of times. She had brushed it off, convinced that he couldn't possibly be interested in her. Still whatever had happened, he was standing in front of her now, dangerously close.

"Hey," he said, his eyes sparkling.

"Hey," she squeaked out. She stared dumbly at him, unable to string a sentence together, quite sure that her mouth hung open. How could she talk to hundreds of students a day but get tongue-tied around a single man?

"Hi," Audra said, waggling her fingers at the stranger. She continued deliberately, "My name is Audra. That's Katie. And you are?"

The man chuckled softly, "Hello, Audra. And Katie? It's good to meet you. I'm Gus." He extended his hand to Audra who shook it a little too firmly, then turned his attention to Kat. She looked at him and his hand but was unable to move her hands from her lap. He laughed again, and brushed the hair back from his forehead.

Audra made an impatient sound and when Gus looked at her again, she said, "We're actually just heading out. Kat and I, that is. Do you want to join us? We're going to my place..."

The invitation hung in the air. Kat frantically felt her brain whirl around the implication of his coming but, more alarmingly, around the implications of his not coming.

Gus looked back at the two girls; this would be his only opportunity to get to know Kat -- he knew he'd probably never see her again. He narrowed his eyes, replying, "The only problem is that I'm here with one of my mates, Adam."

"Oh!" Kat suddenly exclaimed, unexpectedly full of courage. "Bring him too!"

Surprised by her immediate outburst, Kat giggled. She was nervous and wished she could crawl under a rock. She silently cursed her impetuous statement. What was she thinking? Of course he wouldn't want to come. "I mean, if you want to," she added hastily. She feigned indifference. "It won't matter to us either way."

"Alright," Gus said eagerly. "I don't think I'll have to convince Adam to go home with you two. It really hasn't been his night." Gus pointed over to where Adam was awkwardly moving on the dance floor while a group of girls watched him, incredulous smiles pasted to their plasticine faces. "And he wonders why he strikes out!" Gus laughed as his friend's attempt to do The Robot made him crash into a bar stool. Adam looked around quickly to see if anyone noticed, saw Gus and the girls watching him, and shrugged sheepishly. The whole thing was so absurd everyone laughed -- the tension broken by Adam's goof-ball antics.

The next few hours were a blur of great conversation, more drinks, and silver moonlight. After leaving the bar, the four did indeed walk the few blocks to Audra's townhouse where they sat in her patio garden. Even though Audra traveled frequently for work, she had the best outdoor space. Her apartment took up the entire ground floor of the townhouse and had a private patio in back. Audra used this to create a garden paradise, filled with aromatic herbs and late-blooming roses. It was one of Kat's favorite places on earth. Just like Audra, the garden put everyone at ease.

Maybe it was because she was so comfortable that Kat found she got along well with both Gus and Adam. They had loads in common so she was able to relax and be herself as the night progressed. She was quieter than usual, but no one seemed to notice, as Audra was entertaining enough for all four of them. Kat settled back into her chaise, smiling sleepily at her friend and enjoying the gentle summer breeze; before long she was fast asleep.

She woke up with her head resting against someone's neck and realized, quite suddenly, that she was being carried. She wriggled against the body and inhaled deeply.

"Mmm.." she sighed. "You smell like spice and beer and something else." Kat paused to take a deeper breath. "You smell like August." A deep rumble started in the man's throat, and Kat let one hand caress his neck, intent on feeling the vibration in his larynx. "Hi, Gus," she whispered.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Gus said, desperate to compose himself. "Audra instructed me to take you to bed. It seems she and Adam are getting along well; I really think she just wanted the privacy, and your nap gave her the perfect excuse to get rid of us."

Kat giggled into his shoulder. "She's probably just pretending to like Adam so that she could push you into being with me. She's quite the schemer."

Gus gently laid Kat on the bed of Audra's guest bedroom. Then he sat next to her. "A schemer?" he asked. "That implies that there's something to scheme. What does she have in mind?"

Kat yawned sleepily. "I would guess, based on two decades of schemes with her, that it involves quite a bit of bad behavior. I don't think you'd really be up for it, though, and I'm really sleepy," she teased.

Gus grinned devilishly. "Bad behavior, eh?" he asked while he pulled Kat's sandals off her feet and dropped them to the floor. He then began to unbutton her cardigan, and said, "I think you need to be more specific, Katie."

Kat lazily lifted herself off the mattress so that Gus could peel the cardigan from her shoulders. "Please don't call me Katie. No one calls me Katie. I'm Kat," she admonished as she unzipped her dress and pulled it over her head. Once it was off, she bundled it together and handed it to Gus. She looked up at him and smiled. "Give me your t-shirt to sleep in," she cajoled. Gus stared for a long moment at Kat's bared breasts, then dropped the dress and stripped his shirt off in a heartbeat. Kat slid into it and crawled under the sheets. "Come on, Gus," she beckoned. "Get into bed. Let's get some sleep."

He needed no extra invitation, and quickly discarded his sneakers, socks, and cargo shorts before stretching his body out beside her. Soon after, both fell asleep.

When Kat woke, she was securely nestled in the curve of Gus' body, her back pressed against his chest. His hand had wrapped around her torso, snaking under the tee to cup her breast. He felt so amazingly perfect, her petite stature engulfed by his height. She pressed harder against him, ignoring all the reasons she shouldn't be doing this, and looked out the window to the dusty rose of the morning sunrise. The sun's rays were beginning to spill into the room in dense patches, cascading onto the bed like a waterfall.

Kat had always been especially fond of a sunrise and woke early enough to see them several times a week; somehow being with Gus made her private ritual even more breathtaking. She stretched a little more and covered his hand with her own. Kat's slight movement caused light to land on Gus' reposing features, and he grumbled in his sleep, pulling Kat closer and pressing his lips to her neck. She inhaled deeply.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he whispered, kissing her again at the base of her neck.

Kat twisted in his arms until she faced him and teased, "Sleepyhead? Me? I've been up longer than you!" Resting her hands on the hard planes of his chest, she slipped her leg over his, wrapping her body more tightly around him. His kisses, coupled with his gentleness, had affected Kat in the most surprising way. She wanted to fit herself to Gus, to melt into him, to feel him inside her, full and deep. There was an intense longing burning in the pit of her belly; she had to do something to quench the fire.

Slowly she dragged her hand down his chest, tangling her fingers in his chest hair before circling her fingertips around a nipple and delving lower, over his taut abdomen, until she lightly brushed her hand against his cock. He quickly reached down to capture her hand within his own. She glanced up at him, frowning. "What? Don't you want me?" she asked.

"Of course I want you," he answered in a ragged voice. "I just don't want you to start something you can't finish."

"Oh, I'll finish," Kat whispered huskily, "I can promise you that."