Life in a Small New Hampshire Town Pt. 02

"If you keep doing that, I won't last long."

I backed off, licked my finger to see what it tasted like. Salty, not bad. He reached down, pulled me to my feet, and said, "Let's get under the covers."

As we were getting into the bed, he must have noticed the condoms.

"We hadn't discussed whether you were using birth control, so I bought some also. Different brand. After I discovered Anita's cheating, I got myself tested. Negative, thank God."

"That's reassuring. Thanks."

We were lying on our sides, facing each other, he on his left, me on my right.

Tom

I knew that, despite her bravado, Chris was anxious and I needed to make tonight a positive introduction to the pleasures of sex for her. She was under the impression that I had more experience than I actually had. There were a few girls at UNH, but they were my age and as new to sex as I was. Anita was 5 years older than I when we met. We lived together for about a year and a half. Anita was a very sexual person, and I have to give her credit, she was an exceptionally good instructor on the ways to give a woman pleasure. I was so enthralled by what we were doing, it wasn't until after our break-up that I realized we had a fairly one-sided relationship. I put far more effort into the relationship than she did. I now hoped to apply the legacy of information she gave me to establish a relationship with Chris. Sometimes, there is a silver lining in a dark cloud.

I started by gently caressing her face, stroking her cheeks, rubbing circles in her temples. I reached up to her scalp, gently probing, circling, sliding my fingers together, repeating, trying to induce a relaxed state. My hands travelled down to her neck and shoulders, slowly massaging the muscles there. I nudged her on to her back and worked my way down one arm then the other. I held her left palm firmly between my fingers and thumb, circling the inside of her palm with my thumb, applying moderate pressure, repeating on the right palm.

I moved down to her left breast, cupping it gently, softly tracing my finger around her nipple, without touching it, lightly circling the tip with my palm. I teased her areola with the tip of my tongue, feeling the bumps rising to meet the stimulation she was receiving. I teased the tip of her nipple with the tip of my tongue, gradually moving it down, circling the sides until I pulled the whole nipple into my mouth, squeezing it enough so that Chris started squirming.

I moved my mouth to her right breast, and directly nibbling at the base of her nipple, while cupping, palpating, massaging her left breast.

I squeezed her nipple, hard, between my lip covered teeth, sealed my lips to her breast and applied strong suction, while still gently stimulating her left breast. I could sense her heartbeat increasing, her breathing became ragged and her body gave in to the inevitable. She shook, her body stiffened, lifted off the bed and finally fell back.

I lay down next to her. Time passed, it's hard to determine how much when you're in that post-orgasmic zone. Eventually, she spoke.

"Tom, what happened to me?"

"You had an orgasm. Haven't you ever had one before?"

"Yes, but never like that. It felt so...."

"Good, maybe?"

"Good isn't even close."

"If you liked that, see if you like this." I said, as I slid down the bed and got between her legs.

The bouquet of aromas seeping through her wet panties was intoxicating. I gently caressed her mons and down the edges of her panty line. I lifted the edges of them away from her hips and rolled them down until I could slide them off her legs. That released a much stronger essence of aroused woman. I traced up one thigh and down the other, brushing gently across her hair. One very real advantage of maintaining a full bush is that it captures and gently releases pheromones. Such a turn-on for anyone who has experienced it.

I raked my fingers through her pubes, cupped her mons, pressed down, then used both index fingers to stroke the creases where her legs intersected her vulva. Already, she was beginning to squirm. I gently squeezed her outer labia between my fingers, squeeze and release, squeeze and release. I wet my fingers and separated her labia, exposing her inner lips. With my flattened tongue, I very slowly licked her lips bottom to top, stopping short of her clitoris. The intensity of her movements indicated that she was already very close to orgasm. I decided to save performing oral on her clitoris for another day and slipped one finger, then a second, into her vagina to stimulate her G-Spot while palpating her mons with my other hand. Even though I wasn't doing any oral at the time, she managed to clamp my head between her legs and lift us both off the bed. I could still stimulate her mons, and gently did so, but I couldn't move my other fingers. Time passed and she slowly fell back to the bed, releasing her grip on my head.

I moved back up and embraced her, me on my side, Chris still on her back.

"You did it again."

"No, you did it again. How are you? Can I get you anything? Water?"

"You had me panting there. My mouth is dry. Water sounds great."

I got up, returned with a glass, handed it to her.. After a couple of swallows, she set the glass on the nightstand.

"Do you want to go to sleep?"

"Tom Tyndall, are you trying to thwart the one thing I've been looking forward to all evening, all day, for years."

"I thought you may be tired or sore."

"Neither."

Chris reached down and started stroking me.

"That didn't take long."

"Chris, there's no doubt I want you."

She reached over and picked up a condom.

"Maybe you should do it the first time. I'll watch so I can do it next time."

I ripped open the packet.

"The only real trick is to unroll it in the right direction. If you can't see, you can poke a finger in the end and try to unroll it. If you have it right, it will unroll easily."

I showed her what I meant. I rolled onto my back. She took the condom from me and rolled it down my hard-on.

"I want you on top the first time. That way, you have complete control. If anything is uncomfortable or hurts, stop. The first penetration may initially be a little uncomfortable."

"I've been using tampons for years. I don't think we have to worry about that. Besides, you just had two fingers in me."

She positioned herself above my erection, lowered herself until my glans touched her lips. I placed my hands on her hips. Holding on to my shaft, Chris rubbed me back and forth, separating her lips and let me begin to penetrate her. I could feel myself pushing against her vaginal sphincter muscle. It gradually relaxed and my head slipped in. I tightened my hold on her hips, stopping further penetration."

"Are you okay?"

"Everything feels so good."

I dropped my hands and she eased herself down until I was completely engulfed. She stopped and held that position.

"Still good?"

"Oh yeah. I just feel very full. You're much bigger than a tampon. Warmer. I can feel you pulsing."

Gradually, she started moving up and down, sliding up until I was almost out, then plunging down. There is something elemental to making love, embedded in our DNA over millennia. It comes naturally. Chris picked up her pace, I started thrusting up to meet her. I knew I was getting close.

'Slow down, Tom. Let her catch up with you.'

I stopped thrusting to let her have complete control again. I used my finger to spread some of her moisture on her clitoral hood. I lightly swirled my wet finger over and around her hood while massaging her mons with my other hand. Her vaginal muscles clamped down on me, I thrust one more time and started ejaculating. We finished together, she collapsed against my chest, her upper body flush in pink, glistening with a sheen of sweat.

Chris started to dismount as I held the condom in place on my rapidly shrinking penis. I hobbled into the bathroom, removed it, tied it off and tossed the condom in the trash. I rinsed and dried myself, blew out the candles and snuggled up to her.

"That was incredible. Can we do it again, my stallion?"

Saturday, 700 PM

Shiloh

I wasn't sure what to wear tonight, but ultimately decided that dressier has the order of the day, so I put on one of my nicer dresses. Unfortunately, it was now mostly hidden by my apron. I saw Erik's van drive in as I finished feeding Sierra. I welcomed him in.

"Sierra is about ready for bed. Give me a couple of minutes. Make yourself at home."

Erik entered the living room as I took Sierra to our room. When I returned, he was looking at my photos.

"Shiloh, these are professional quality. Your work is amazing. You definitely have an eye for composition."

"Thanks, Erik."

"Is your employee/housemate joining us?"

"Chris has a new paramour. She's having dinner with him tonight. I'm not sure what time she's getting back."

There, I planted a little insurance policy.

He handed me the bottle of wine he had brought. We moved to the kitchen.

I coated the salmon in panko and fresh herbs and sauteed them in a skillet.

Author's note for aspiring cooks: Panko is a unique style of bread crumb used in Japanese baked and fried dishes. It starts with baking bread in a specially designed oven using electric current instead of heat. That produces a crustless white bread that's soft and dense. The bread is then dried and ground into coarse flakes that are larger than regular bread crumbs.

The baby red potatoes were cut accordion fashion, drenched in olive oil, herbs, and garlic and oven roasted. The maple syrup glazed baby carrots were nearly done. All the veggies and herbs grew on the farm. Everything was coming together nicely. We both enjoyed the meal.

"I can't decide which you are better at, photography or cooking."

"That's very nice to hear. Thanks."

We adjourned to the living room.

"I assume the end of your growing season is fast approaching? I still need another photographer. Would you consider working some gigs with me in your off season? Your work is far superior to my other two."

"I'll think about it."

"That sounds like a no. I'm not going to push you. I'm not that kind of guy. But it is an open offer if you change your mind."

"It's complicated. Growing season is clearly our most labor intensive. I'll still be delivering root crops from storage to the local stores, at least until after New Year's." Honey and egg deliveries go year-round. My personal busiest time is all winter. Planning next year's crops and ordering seeds, repairing, replacing, adding new equipment all takes way more time than one would think it should. Plus, I'm always looking for addition markets, which then effects how much to order. I'm not complaining. Running your own business, you know how much behind the scenes work there is. You only get paid when the music flows, not for all your prep time, driving to venues, giving bids that don't materialize, it goes on and on. You know what I'm talking about."

"Sure do. Changing the subject, to a more personal area, I admire what you are doing, you're a joy to work with, professional, smart. Would you be interested in dating?"

'There it is. What I want and what I'm afraid of. Oh, Shiloh, what do you do? How would anyone want me when they know what happened. Scars everywhere. Kate, I need your wisdom tonight. Can I be honest? Can I trust him.'

"That... that's even more complicated."

I saw him studying me.

"I think I may have blundered into an area I shouldn't have. I'm sorry if I intruded, Shiloh. I think maybe, I should leave. Thank you for saving my ass this morning, thank you for the best meal I've had in ages. I still owe you dinner sometime, when you're ready. Good night."

He got up to leave.

'Don't go. Please stay. Tell him, Shiloh.'

"Erik..."

He turned back.

"Yes?"

"Please..... please stay Erik."

"I don't know what's going on here, Shiloh. I know that I've made you very uncomfortable, which makes me very uncomfortable. What would you like me to do? If I can help, I will. Promise."

'I want to believe him, so much.'

"I... I had.... a very traumatic past. I want to tell you about it, but it's difficult."

"We all have trauma in our lives. For some it's much worse than for others. I know I've experienced some myself. Try me."

'But you weren't raped and have a line of scars top to bottom and have a baby as a result.'

"There are only two very trusted friends here who know what I'm about to tell you. I need an unequivocal promise that what I am going to say stays between us."

"You can trust me. My business often depends on not revealing confidential things I learn. I don't know how I can convince you except to say that I promise to maintain your confidence."

I needed a minute to catch my breath. Erik was watching me intently.

"Four years ago, I was raped. It was brutal. I have physical scars, emotional scars. Sierra is the result of that rape. I vowed to never trust a man again. He ruined my life. I didn't think anyone would want me once they found out, saw my scars. I've been in intensive therapy. It's helping, but I've got a long way to go. My therapist suggested I restart my interest in photography and to get out in public. Chris cajoled me into combining the two and do Derrick and Olivia's wedding. She convinced me that I would blend in, not be seen. She was right."

Halfway through my monologue, Erik came over, sat beside me and pulled me into a hug, not letting go.

"Shiloh, I'm so sorry. I don't see a 'rape victim'. I see a very strong woman who is dealing with the very crappy hand that life dealt her. I can't speak for others, but your story doesn't deter me from wanting to date you. So, I'll ask you again, would you like to start dating me?"

"You haven't seen my scars. I'm ugly."

With that, I stood up.

"Only those same two people have seen this."

I reached down for the hem of my dress and pulled it up to my waist.

"Ugly, deforming scars. There's more running up to my breast, but you don't have to see them."

"Shiloh, they're much worse in your mind than in reality. I don't think they're ugly, certainly not deforming."

"That's what Dr. Kate keeps saying. It's easy for you to dismiss them. You don't have to see this in the mirror every morning."

Erik quickly looked up at me. A strange expression on his face. He got up and walked across the room, turned and faced me.

"Leaving already, Erik?"

"No."

Before I knew what he was doing, he unbuckled his belt, unzipped, and dropped his pants to the floor.

"Erik, what in hell..."

My eyes travelled down his body, past his boxers, and I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. Erik's left leg was amputated below his knee. His left thigh, right thigh and right lower leg were covered in scar tissue.

"We have another thing in common besides scarred bodies. Dr. Kate helped me get past this. She knows of what she speaks. Listen to her. I look in the mirror every morning, but now I see a survivor, not the cripple I thought I was when I returned from the war. I lost half a leg and a testicle to an IED. I'm alive Shiloh, I love what I do."

I rushed over and hugged him.

"Now that you've seen everything, this will be the last time I ask. Are you interested in dating?"

****

To be continued.

****

First, my apologies to the good folks of Bozeman Montana for setting the rape there. Remember, this is fiction and I needed a setting. I've been to Bozeman twice, with positive memories of the place.

Several of the comments in 'Life' suggested conflicting paths for the Chris and Shiloh characters to take. I wanted to slowly bring Shiloh some well-deserved closure to her rape. From early on, once Olivia highjacked the Derrick - Shiloh romance before it even started, I planned for her to meet a more scarred character than she, who had conquered his own demons. The DJ was initially just a nameless, minor character, a plot device to get Chris and Tom together. Erik slipped into my consciousness and stole the plotline. I hope you enjoyed the story and how it is evolving.

Please vote and comment. Thanks for reading and especially thanks for voting and commenting.

Guy