Never the Same Again Ch. 04

This is the fourth chapter of a multi-part story spanning years, detailing how an unexpected encounter completely changed the course of my life.

Previously: Danielle calls me to wish me a happy birthday, and to tell me she is eager to give me my gift. We get together at her place and soon she has me in her mouth. We spend the next day having lots of sex and then Danielle and Ronda come to my apartment for a sleepover.

Danielle: Age 18, a busty brunette I hooked up with at the club. We have started dating and are falling for each other.

Ronda: Age 18, Danielle's cousin and best friend. Danielle has joked about letting Ronda 'borrow' me.

The Secret

November, 1999

It was early morning when I started to wake. I was laying on my side facing Danielle, and I could feel Ronda curled against my back, arm thrown over me as she snored faintly. Danielle was facing the same direction as I was, about a foot away, her back to me. Her messy brown hair was spilling down her shoulders and covering the pillow. I couldn't resist and reached up and stroked her hair, running my fingers through it lightly before pulling some of it to my lips to kiss, inhaling her soft fragrance.

I slid myself to her, feeling Ronda's arm drop away as she rolled slightly into the space I had just vacated, my body no longer holding her in place. I heard her mutter in sleepy annoyance, but didn't pay her any mind, figuring she had gotten her share of cuddles already.

I molded myself to Danielle's body, wrapping my arms around her and she murmured in wordless approval. I started to pull her closer, but she rolled over to face me, her eyes heavy with sleep but clearly awake. She leaned forward slightly, closing the few inches between us, and kissed me chastely on the lips.

Like a dying person seeing images of their lives flash before them, I saw images from the last few days run through my mind. Danielle giving me a crooked grin before disappearing out the door of the club's storeroom. Danielle standing in the doorway of her apartment, arms reaching out towards me in longing. Danielle, eyes closed and lips parted slightly, her beautiful face leaning in to kiss me.

I came back to reality as she reached up and brushed her hand across my cheek, gazing into my eyes with a tired smile. Suddenly the background seemed to fade out of focus, and again she was all I could see. Her brown eyes, hazy with sleep but still piercing enough to cut right through me. The soft smile on her full lips, one side drawn up crookedly. The faintest of dimples at the tip of her cute little nose. The smooth skin of her throat, perfect and unblemished, dropping away across her collarbones and chest and into the soft swell of her breasts.

The universe seemed to swallow up everything but the two of us as we gazed into each other's eyes. It was like a spotlight had been illuminated, shining brightly to reveal the feelings we held for each other. It cut through the shadows, exposing what we had believed to be true, but were too terrified to take the leap and guess wrong. Something passed between us, and it was as if I could read her thoughts. The last of the self-doubts disintegrated, and I knew...

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught, and before she could try to get them out again, I spoke. "I love you, Danielle," I said simply. We had just talked about not having to say those words yesterday, but somehow yesterday seemed in the distant past, and today the words felt right, so right. Her eyes widened and grew wet with unshed tears.

"I love you, Tim," she whispered, and our lips met in a deep kiss. We embraced tightly, our hands running over each other's bodies, our tongues dancing together. We both moaned softly and melted closer to each other, our movements gaining in urgency.

"It's way too early to be waking up, and I told you before, no fucking in the bed next to me," Ronda's annoyed voice came muffled but loudly from where she was buried in the bedding less than a foot away from us.

Danielle flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling. "God, Ronda, why are you always here?" she said, mock annoyance in her voice, but a faint smile on her lips.

"I don't know, you tell me. You invited me. Why am I always here? Maybe you don't really wanna be alone with him," Ronda's voice came again, a pissy tone in it.

The smile faded from Danielle's lips. "Way to ruin the mood, Ronda. We just said 'I love you' to each other for the first time and you couldn't even give us a minute to enjoy it... God, you suck," Danielle said in exasperation.

"Aww, that's sweet," Ronda said. "Way too soon, but sweet. Now go back to sleep, it's fucking early and you woke me up," she finished with a sarcastic snort.

I felt Danielle stiffen in my arms, and there was a palpable tension in the silence that followed. Then Danielle spoke, staring daggers into the ceiling.

"If you ever again say to us it is too soon, or suggest we're wrong about how we feel, or cast doubt about our love for each other, I swear to God I'll make you regret it, do you understand me?" Danielle said, her voice low and quiet but dripping with fury.

The room was still for a long second, then Ronda rolled over slowly and propped herself up on her elbows and looked at us, her face suddenly pale and her eyes wet. After a long moment she said quietly, "You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I really didn't. I really am so happy for you two, I'm just so jealous at the same time! You know what a bitch I am in the mornings! I was just lashing out for no reason! I know you guys love each other, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I love you both so much!" she sniffled, on the verge of tears.

Danielle turned her head and nodded slowly at Ronda, an acknowledgment of her words though maybe short of forgiveness. "Thank you, we love you, too. I'm sorry I reacted so harshly, it's just that we had had that talk yesterday and kind of agreed it was too soon, but yesterday seems an eternity ago, and today it felt right, so we said it," Danielle continued, somehow echoing my thoughts exactly. "And you saying it was too soon just brought back all the self-doubting bullshit, all the uncertainty."

She looked at me quickly and said, "Not that I'm uncertain if I love you, I do love you, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. It's just-" she stopped and returned her gaze to the ceiling once more, and pounded her fist angrily into the mattress next to her. "Fuck, Ronda, this is why I'm so mad about what you said! It just sows doubt and poisons what is crystal fucking clear! And worst of all, I confided in you yesterday I thought I was falling in love with Tim and all the insecurity and fear I was feeling about saying those three words already, and you said that shit anyways, knowing how it would hurt me!"

"I'm sorry," Ronda whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

That was when I decided it was time to voice my thoughts on the matter. "It's ok, Danielle, really! Like you said, it's crystal clear what I feel in my heart. I love you, Danielle. Period. There are no doubts. And I have no doubt that you love me too. Yes, it's soon, it's quick, it's unexpected. But I'm not gonna deny it, or pretend not to feel the way I feel because some people..." I stopped myself and took a deep breath, and Ronda gave a low, agonized moan, as if I had accused her. "Love happens when love happens, whether you've known the person five minutes, five months or five years. And I'm not gonna question it, I'm just gonna thank God every day that he sent us each other."

"I love you, Tim. No doubts," Danielle answered, gazing into my eyes as the tears started to well in hers.

"I'm so sorry!" Ronda's voice was climbing dangerously close to a wail. "I didn't mean to hurt you two, I can't believe I just ruined what may be one of the best, most important moments of your lives because of my petty jealousy! What's wrong with me? I'm a horrible friend!" She was sobbing now, and she pushed herself up to her knees unsteadily. "I should go, you deserve to be alone, and like you said, you don't need or want me here..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Danielle shouted at the same time I said, "No!"

Danielle crawled over me and wrapped Ronda in a bear hug and Ronda clung to her, sobbing into her shoulder. It wasn't long before Danielle was crying with her, and they held each other, swaying unsteadily. After a couple minutes, the sobs had calmed, though the tears were still flowing.

"Tim, get in here," Danielle said, her voice hoarse and ragged. I got on my knees and moved, wrapping my arms around them both. They half broke their embrace and I felt them each snake one of their arms around my back, and they both shifted until they were pressed against my chest, wetting my t-shirt with their tears. I stroked their hair and kissed them both on the crown of their heads, making soothing wordless noises.

"I'm sorry," Ronda whispered again, her voice strained and raw. I kissed her hair again, and ran my hand up and down her back, in what I hoped was a comforting manner. She sniffled, and I felt her arm squeeze me tighter.

Finally the tears seemed to be mostly over, and both girls were rubbing red eyes and noses with the back of their hands. Ronda sat back on her haunches and looked at Danielle and I, her face puffy and tear-stained. "Please forgive me, I can't bear that I ruined that moment for you. I love you two, and I hate myself for being so hurtful..." It looked like she might start crying again.

Danielle gave her a wavering smile, and said firmly, "I forgive you, Ronda, you're my best friend since forever and I'll always love and forgive you." Ronda rocked forward and squeezed Danielle into a tight hug, and I heard Danielle grunt as the air was forced from her lungs.

As they hugged, Ronda's face turned towards me, and she met my gaze apprehensively. I gave her what I thought was a reassuring smile. "We're good, Ronda, of course I forgive you, I already feel like you and I are gonna be best friends for the rest of our lives."

Ronda let go the breath she had been holding, exhaling in relief and smiled. "I've actually felt the same ever since we started hanging out." She released Danielle, and turned to me, wrapping me in a tight hug as well. I ran my hand up and down her back comfortingly, and stroked her hair. She pulled back after a long moment and kissed me softly on the cheek. I looked in her eyes and pulled her forehead to my lips with the hand in her hair, planting a kiss of my own on her smooth skin before returning to our embrace.

"What the fuck, Tim? Best friend? I'm supposed to be your best friend!" Danielle objected loudly.

"Of course you are, I just meant... it's just... what I mean is... But you just said she was your best friend!" I protested, feeling the trap closing around me.

"Yeah, and? I'm allowed to have a best friend, your best friend has to be me, and you certainly can't have a girl best friend!"

"But..." I opened my mouth to argue further, but I heard Ronda murmur in my ear. "For your own health and sanity, just agree. You and I will both know the truth," she giggled softly.

We broke our embrace and I looked at Danielle. "You're right, Danielle, you're my best friend. I misspoke, I meant that Ronda would be ONE of my best friends, it was a figure of speech. Of course you're my best friend," I said, attempting to sound as sincere as humanly possible.

She looked at me for several seconds, then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You were right, Ronda, he really is pussy whipped." I saw Ronda nodding out of the corner of my eye, and glanced at her, frowning at her betrayal. She gave me a quick smirk and winked. "You just agree with whatever I say?" Danielle continued, "You think that will make me happy? You want my pussy so badly-"

"Ok," Ronda interrupted her, "don't need to hear that. Leave him alone, Danielle, we're all too fucking emotionally drained right now, you can torment him another time."

Danielle grinned and laughed softly. "Yeah, sorry, I took it a bit too far there, didn't I?" And she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, her tongue attacking mine with a vengeance.

Ronda yawned, and it quickly spread to Danielle and I. In wordless consensus, all three of us laid back down to get some more sleep. I collapsed onto my back and Danielle sprawled half on top of me, her head on my chest and her leg between mine, her thigh pressed firmly to my groin.

Ronda started to lay down away from us, apparently still unsure if she was welcome back into our circle of intimacy yet. Danielle disabused her of that quick. "Ronda, get your ass over here," she said in exasperation. Ronda looked at us for a second, then smiled gratefully and snuggled up to my other side, her body pressed against me.

Having only gotten a couple hours sleep, and, as Ronda said, emotionally drained from the events of the last ten minutes, all three of us quickly drifted off.

*****

I woke up some time later to something soft touching my lips. I opened my eyes to find Danielle's eyes less than two inches from mine, her lips kissing me gently. I started, my head jerking involuntarily in surprise, and my forehead banged into her nose. She gasped in pain and reared back, holding her nose in one hand.

"Ouch! Tim!" she whined, rubbing at her nose with the palm of her hand. She dropped her hand and sat still, her eyes glazed and mouth slightly open and a blank expression on her face. She stayed like that for several seconds, then sneezed violently once, and then twice.

"Fuck, that hurt!" she whispered accusingly, rubbing her nose again.

"You startled me! As beautiful as your face is, having it an inch from my face when I open my eyes from sleeping was startling! That'll teach you for being a creeper and molesting me in my sleep!" I answered in a hushed voice.

"Oh, you don't like it when I put my lips on you while you're sleeping?" Danielle hissed. "I'll remember that the next time you're asleep and I think about waking you up by putting my lips on your cock and blowing you!"

"On second thought, a little sleep molestation here and there would be ok," I assured her hurriedly.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she giggled. She leaned back down and kissed me, running her hand over my chest. "Ronda's still asleep, and probably will be for a while, I was hoping we could get some alone time before she woke up," Danielle whispered softly.

"What were you thinking, doing it on the bed next to her?" I asked, my brain still trying to shake off the sleep.

Danielle giggled. "That would be kinda hot, but no, I was thinking of the tub, actually."

I nodded, smiling, and we climbed off the bed quietly to avoid waking Ronda up. We hurried into the bathroom, closing and locking the door to the bedroom behind us. I turned the tub's hot water on and set the temperature on the control panel. Danielle was reading the labels on the buttons and asked, "Do we need to worry about running out of hot water?"

"Not unless we're in here for a long time," I answered, putting my hand under the running water to see if it was getting warm yet. "The tub has an internal heater that reheats the water as it cycles through the jets, so it doesn't completely rely on the hot water heater."

Danielle grinned at me, leaned in and planted a wet kiss on my lips. She was shifting from foot to foot, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly. I looked at her with a questioning frown.

"I have to pee..." she said, flushing. I laughed and pointed at the toilet two feet from where she was standing. "I can't go in front of you!" she squealed, blushing deeper. "Can you please leave just for a minute so I can pee?"

I gave an exaggerated sigh, and opened the door to the dressing room and went in. The french doors leading out into the bedroom were pulled mostly closed, an inch gap letting light from the bedroom seep in. I looked in the vanity mirror, and turned on the closest faucet and splashed some cold water on my face, rubbing it vigorously.

"Ok, I'm done!" Danielle called softly, and I turned the water off and went back into the bathroom. Danielle was standing naked by the tub, running her hands sensually over her bare flesh as she gave me a smoldering look. I hurriedly stripped my clothes off too and rushed towards her, leaving the door into the dressing room several inches ajar.

We met in a fierce embrace, her hands on either side of my face, holding my lips locked to hers. Her breasts squashed against my chest, and I could feel the light stubble of her shaved pussy softly scratch at my leg as she grinded herself against me.

I pulled my head away and checked the tub, which was almost half full. I tested the water temperature and made an adjustment on the panel, and stepped in, holding Danielle's hand and helping her in over the ridge of the tub.

We settled down in the warm water, and the displacement from our bodies made the level rise to only a couple inches below the edge. I turned the faucet off and squirmed into a comfortable position against the tub wall. Danielle pushed my legs apart, and settled with her back against my chest, her body melting into mine. I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned her head back, resting it just below my chin and slightly to the left, right over my heart.

"No jets?" she asked, and I reached awkwardly behind me and pawed at the control panel until I found the button I was looking for and switched them on. By feel, I turned a control knob to the setting I wanted, and the jets whirred to life, the water frothing. Danielle sighed in contentment, and took my hands in hers where they were resting below her breasts.

"Mmmm," she murmured happily as I pressed my face to the top of her head and smelled her hair, inhaling deeply before planting several delicate kisses on her. "God, this is heaven," she exhaled, tracing her hands softly over my arms.

Danielle's head lolled to the side and I took the opportunity to lean down and brush my lips over the curve of her ear and nibble on her earlobe. She shivered and made a low purring sound of satisfaction. "I love you," I breathed in her ear, and I lightly ran my tongue across her soft skin, sucking her earlobe gently between my lips.

She shivered again and whispered, "I love you, too."

We sat there together for a good ten or fifteen minutes, eyes closed, just enjoying the warm water, the jets, and the feel of our wet, naked flesh pressed together.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the magnificent view I had. Gazing past the sexy tangle of brunette hair atop Danielle's head, I had a perfect view of the tops of Danielle's tits where they floated, bouncing and swaying with the motion of the roiling water, an occasional flash of pinkish brown nipple popping up from below the surface.

Unable to resist, I moved my hands up and cupped her titties, squeezing the supple flesh gently. "Mmmmm," Danielle purred low in approval, and her hands joined mine to work her gorgeous tits. My cock quickly began to stiffen, trapped between us and pushed hard into the small of her back. She wiggled slightly and gave another wordless purr of approval as she felt it harden against her.

Sliding one hand off her breasts, I ran it slowly down her taut stomach and down one of her legs, the feel of the smooth skin of her thigh sending a jolt of electricity through me. Reaching midway to her knee, I slid my hand inward, and she parted her legs slightly with a shiver. I slowly and teasingly traced my fingers up her inner thigh, feeling the tension in her muscles grow the closer I got to the target between her legs.

About an inch away I stopped and Danielle exhaled in annoyance and elbowed me gently. I laughed softly into her hair and traced lazy circles with my finger tips over the inside of her thigh for a few seconds before she elbowed me again, a bit more sharply. "It isn't nice to tease," she murmured, squirming slightly and causing my cock to rub deliciously against her bare skin.