Pumpkin Spice

"Pictures! We have to get pictures," she said. "My parents and your mom will love this, and I want to get some tonight with Nita and Ron, too. Mrs. V said their costumes are similar to ours but different colors so we'll complement each other."

"Speaking of them, we have reservations for four at 5:30 in one of the restaurants downstairs."

"Hmm. That means we have over an hour...to do something?" she said suggestively.

"If that something is the something I'm thinking it is, I like it."

"It is, believe me." She was kissing me and undoing my belt before I could say anything else, though I didn't mind in the least. I played along and helped by removing her things from her. When her little panties came off, I was surprised to see that she was completely bare, her little rectangle from our first time being gone.

"Didn't want anything in the way in case you wanted to take a closer look this weekend. Want to?"

"Do I ever!" I replied, grinning like a mad man.

I eased her down on the bed so her ass was right on the edge as she spread her legs wide and I knelt down on the floor to really worship her little temple of love. I cupped a hand under each buttock to support her and then kissed her thigh, sending a shiver through her. More kisses followed, with Connie squirming and running her hands through my hair, as I neared my goal.

"Please, Ken. Please?" she moaned.

My tongue split her groove then, barely making a dent until I plunged deeper at the front to flick her clit. Her breath caught when I did, and I repositioned my hands a little so my thumbs could open her gates further to her inner secrets. She gripped my hair then and steered me to her clit where she wanted me.

Who was I to complain? My tongue flicked her at first as my thumbs kept her outer lips open and then my lips became involved again when her clit had grown a bit. Licking and sucking, sucking and licking, and then I added my fingers.

That did the trick for as I plunged two fingers in, she arched her back and cried out my name in ecstasy before slamming her thighs closed around my head as I tasted her added wetness.

"Oh, Ken, that was so good," she said, pulling me up to her and kissing me. "Give me a few seconds and then make love to me, okay?"

We'd discussed birth control earlier in the week, so when she was ready, there was no condom this time as I entered her from above. We kept kissing, with me taking a break from time to time to tend to her titties, kissing and stroking, loving and caressing, but when things started to build, I pulled out and started doing oral again for a bit while I calmed myself.

When I was ready to go again, she had me lie back and climbed atop like a bronc rider, riding up and down, her beautiful boobs bobbing in time. When she started to tire, she lay forward, her tits against my chest as she continued working her pelvis while letting her thighs rest.

"Ken, are you getting close again? I am. Want to do it hard from behind?"

She was on her hands and knees moments later as I gripped her waist and hip bones and plunged inside. It was our first time doing doggy style and the first time I'd really gotten to look at her behind as we slammed together. I loved seeing her muscles shake but didn't get to enjoy it long because I quickly went over the top. I kept pumping for a few more seconds as she reached her goal and we fell on the bed together, with the results of our love making an absolute mess of the sheets.

As we held each other, she rolled around to kiss me and said, "I can't wait to do that again later tonight. Do you think they'll change our sheets for us before then?"

"I'm looking forward to that, too, Connie, and I'll call about the sheets. I think for now, though, we'd better start thinking about getting ready if we're going to meet Ron and Nita for dinner."

As we were about to get into the shower together just a couple of minutes later, Connie received a call from Nita.

"Okay, see you then," she said before ending the call. "They're running late—based on the background noise, I have a feeling for the same reason we are—so they're going to have to skip dinner but will meet us at the ball. Say, there's going to be lots of food at the ball so I can skip if you'd like to stay here and snuggle. We can even do that naked...if you'd like?" she repeated.

"Oh, I think I'd like that very much, and I like how you think, my lady," I said, giving a deep bow as if practicing to be in character. We climbed in bed and snuggled as she'd suggested, watching TV for a while until it was time to get ready for the costume ball. Mine was easy but Connie had more trouble getting into her dress and getting it adjusted correctly than she had with Pat's assistance. We finally got it right and, with invitation in hand, made our way down to the ballroom.

***

We met Nita and Ron in the atrium out in front of the ballroom. The girls hugged and kissed and I shook hands with Ron. With the cut on my hand bandaged, I'd draped the cuffed gloves over my belt. I was surprised when Nita gave me a hug and kissed my cheek and Connie did the same with Ron.

We then joined the reception queue to present our invitations to the female fairies and male elves at the reception table as guests in costumes of every sort imaginable joined the line. Practically every major period of history seemed to be covered, with most of the costumes looking like ours, ready to be used in an authentic movie production for the time. As we waited in line approaching, we identified as many as we could.

Then there were the costumes that were beyond history, ranging from superheroes to science fiction. As we entered the doors to the ballroom, we saw two Batmen that ran into each other seeming to compare notes, though I was glad to see that one was accompanied by Catwoman and the other by Poison Ivy. Ivy's costume was quite eye-catching, and I hoped that whatever they used to secure the leaves over her nipples on what appeared to be perfect breasts would make it through the evening. Daredevil, Green Arrow, and a Thor that could have probably doubled for Chris Hemsworth weren't too far away. Green Arrow was joined by an excellent Black Canary, though Karen Page and Jane Foster were nowhere in sight, but Jedi, starship captains, Colonial Warriors, and a host of others were.

We'd been concentrating on looking at the costumes until we were far enough into the ballroom to really take it in. The place was huge, covering the main level with the band, the dance floor, lots of tables and seating around three sides, and drink and food stations in the rear. A wide balcony with small tables and chairs wrapped the three sides like below so the band could be seen. A wide spiral stair in each of the two rear corners seemed to be a popular spot as costumed party-goers stopped on the steps for photos. The band was playing—I wasn't sure who it was, though the invitation advertised that three bands would be playing during the party—but they were keeping it rather low-key since it was early in the evening, guests were meeting and talking, and the dancing hadn't yet begun.

Everywhere we looked, there were more costumes, including another category, the fantastical like the fairies and elves at the reception tables. Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman had found each other and were hamming it up, getting some good shots together.

"All they need is Abbott and Costello," whispered Connie, making me laugh.

A guy who must have been close to 7-feet tall portrayed what I believed was an ogre; the sexy princess in the strategically ripped dress but sporting a pointy hat with the scarf trailing from the tip seemed to really like her captor...or maybe to have been Stockholm-syndromed by him. However, a bare-chested, muscle-bound guy in some type of outfit from Rome or Barsoom or maybe Gor led another skimpily-dressed young woman wearing a collar with a chain for a leash; she didn't look too happy, and I heard Nita say to Connie, "Bet he won't be getting any tonight," causing them both to laugh.

Michael or Gabriel or one of the other archangels was accompanied by a sexy blonde angel with a diaphanous robe over what appeared to be a tiny but rhinestone-encrusted bra and an even tinier shiny G-string. Okay, maybe I spent a moment too long figuring out that they were sequins on her G-string before Connie grinned and poked me to move on.

The angels were contrasted with a guy in the most realistic devil costume I'd ever seen. With him having to walk on his tiptoes for his cloven hooves to work, I wasn't sure how he or many of the other people decorated in elaborate, animalistic or monstrous faces and costumes that appeared to be quite uncomfortable and probably quite hot would make it through the evening.

We got drinks and circulated for a bit, looking for and finally finding an open table on the main level. Our earlier decision to skip dinner was coming back to bite me by this point; I was getting hungry but Ron mentioned it first so they went to get food while Connie and I saved our table and their seats and we took our turn minutes later when they returned.

We were in line at the buffet table when I looked up to see Emma Frost, looking as if she'd stepped right out of the comic book page into real life, while the guy standing behind her was a weak imitation of Tony Stark...I think. Emma was smiling at me when I looked at her.

"Kenny! I thought that was you. You guys look great!" said Emma with Maxine's voice. She looked to Connie and said, "Hi, we haven't met. I'm Maxie Laudermilk and this is my date for the evening, Vince Michaels. Vince, Kenny."

In shock that she was standing across from us doing this, I replied, "Uh..." However, I reached out and shook hands with Vinny or Mike or whatever his name was. As I pulled back afterward, I realized the bandage on my hand had come loose, so I rubbed it back down, hoping the adhesive would stick again and the cut wouldn't start bleeding all over everything.

Unfazed, Connie stepped in. "Hi, Maxie, I've heard so much about you. I'm Connie Milburn. How did you and Vince happen to be here this evening?"

That was the question I was wanting to ask.

Maxine grinned. "My birthday is this week so my parents went online and found a couple of invitations for me, and my mom and I made the outfit. Kenny, you used to love comic books. How do you like it?"

"Ahem. Nice job," I stuttered. "You look, ah, just like the character." While shorter by six inches or more, her look and proportions were quite similar, right down to her hair and matching bustline.

Connie, looking as if she was going to burst out laughing, stepped on the side of my foot. "Kenny," she said deliberately, "I think we have what we came for." Turning back to Maxine, she added, "It's nice to meet you both. I'm sure we'll see each other around town sometime."

We walked away, with me hoping that Maxine's path wouldn't cross with ours again this evening. Just in case, I kept an eye out, trying to make sure that didn't happen.

Connie, holding my arm with one hand and her plate with the other, gave a little tug and leaned up to whisper, "Ken, she still has a thing for you."

"I know. She came to see me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to reconcile with her."

Connie stopped and looked at me, the hurt evident on her face. "You didn't think you should tell me this?"

"No. I told her no, that I was with you and that I cared for you a lot and that she needed to drop it and move on. She's part of my past, Connie, and I'll be nice to her because of what we had but that's in my past and it's not going to go beyond that. I haven't spoken with her since then. Until just now, anyway, and I didn't tell her we were coming here."

She thought for a moment before saying, "I was excited and told a number of teachers at school about it, so it makes sense that word got out. What you said makes sense, too, Ken. And it makes me glad that I have such a great guy."

Connie slid her free arm around me and kissed me, right there in front of everyone, though I honestly don't know if a soul paid a bit of attention; I pulled her even closer and made sure it was a good one and that it lasted a while, hoping neither of us spilled our plate.

"Hmm," she sighed happily with a big smile when we parted. "Really glad."

It was only then that I realized I had a sprig of broccoli, a bit of cauliflower, and some ranch dressing on my plate. I started to say something when Connie noticed my look. She leaned in and kissed my cheek this time, saying with a laugh, "I'll share."

I looked at the plate in her hand and was surprised. How in the world did she get all that on her plate? And where did she expect to put it?

When we got back to our table moments later, she told Nita and Ron the story of how she'd been getting food the whole time we walked along the table opposite Maxine and Vince or whatever. "He was so surprised to see his old girlfriend playing Emma Frost he practically had to jack his jaw up off the floor." My face burned red but Connie kissed my cheek again and said, "I'm teasing, it wasn't that bad. And here," she added, turning to me, "I'm serious. We're sharing."

That gave me an excuse to sit closer to her.

While we were sharing Connie's plate and what little I contributed from mine, we noticed that the music had gradually gotten louder and faster and there were quite a few people on the dance floor. I wasn't a great dancer but I'd been to some dances in high school and college, and Maxine had taught me a lot while we dated. With our table obviously occupied, Nita and Ron and the two of us all went out on the floor for a while and had fun dancing while working up a thirst.

When we returned to our table for a break a little later, we were all either low or out on our drinks, so Ron and I agreed to go get more to allow the girls time to chat in private. That had the added advantage of the two of us each getting a kiss from our girl before we started on our little expedition through the crowd.

Ron's musketeer costume was similar to mine, but had enough differences to make them distinct, including ballooned blue pants that matched his tabard versus my straight black ones, straight boots, and an extra white stripe around the perimeter of the tabard.

"How'd you rate an extra stripe?" I asked, pointing to it when we reached the line at one of the bars.

He laughed. "I think that makes me a sergeant. As for how, I sleep with the designer's daughter every night and I don't think she's complained to her mom so far."

"That could do it," I agreed with a laugh. Ron told me a little about his work as a unit manager with an insurance company, and I told him a bit about my farm. We were almost to the bar when a loud voice called out, during a brief break between songs, "Hark, Cardinal, I spy two of my loyal musketeers! Perhaps one of those instant portrait doohickies of which you spake would be in order."

We turned to see Louis XIII and a red-robed Cardinal Richelieu approaching. Louis's costume looked right and he had the right wig, mustache, and beard, but he was way too overweight to be mistaken for the real king even though he carried what I assumed was some type of royal scepter. The cardinal on the other hand reminded me of Charlton Heston in the old Musketeers movie, and the big silver cross hanging from the belt around his robe looked authentic enough to scare the vampires out of Chicago and most of the surrounding counties.

Louis stepped up and shook Ron's hand and then mine in turn. He gave a good squeeze that hurt the cut on my hand and made me realize the bandage had come loose again. "Guys, tonight I'm Louis, but day-to-day I'm Robert Liebellmann, Liebellmann Auto Group, and Richelieu here is my good friend Claude Wyler, general manager of our dealership over in Napierville."

Ron and I introduced ourselves and shook hands with Claude, too, though I held my bandage in place this time.

"Let's get some pictures of the group of us and I'll give you guys my card in case you ever want to come in for a great deal on a new car. With one of these, you can get it at our cost with any factory rebates taken into account. You won't find a better deal in the city."

Mr. Liebellmann must have done it before because an event photographer stopped by as soon as he raised his hand and snapped finger. The photographer got several shots of us posing as a group and a blonde courtesan in a dress from our common period took some photos for Robert that he promptly airdropped to us. She slipped an arm around his showing they were together while he did it.

With another round of handshakes (and me being more careful with the bandage this time), we said goodbye, got our drinks, and returned to our table. We sipped and talked amongst ourselves for a bit before I asked Connie if she'd like to dance again.

"I love dancing in this dress. Let's do it. You two want to come?"

They agreed and followed along behind us toward the dance floor.

With the sounds of music, dancing, and probably hundreds of people talking, it was a noisy place but an odd trumpet fanfare sounded to draw my attention just as Connie and I reached the edge of the dance floor. Ahead of me I saw the guy in the devil costume stepping toward me through the crowd of dancers.

My eyes were fixed on his as he stopped right in front of me and said, "Ah, Kenneth Wayne Seiver. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a...business associate of your father, so I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time, young man. Pleased to meet you. You see, your father and I had a deal at one time—"

He whipped out a parchment scroll and held it up high only to drop it while still holding one end. It unrolled as it fell, stopping just an inch or two above the floor. Being on his tiptoes with those hoofed feet, the guy was tall and quite thin, so I figured the parchment was probably close to seven feet long.

"—but to my surprise," he continued as he pulled the parchment up and shoved the bottom toward me to reveal my late father's signature, "he ended up breaking the contract—something to do with Biblical fine print—" he said rather cynically, "—and left me hanging. Mr. Seiver, while I do enjoy a good hanging and the windfall that usually follows for me, I don't personally like to hang, particularly when I'm in the right and have been screwed out of what's due to me. Therefore, I'm offering you this one and only opportunity to make it right."

"Hmph," I muttered in disbelief. "Mister, I'm sorry but that's a pretty lousy introduction and I don't like your tone. If you need to speak with me, let's do it somewhere appropriate, not here."

"I've taken pains to be here, Mr. Seiver, so pardon me but we'll do this now."

"No," I said firmly, "we won't. I don't know you and don't know who you are, but when my father died, we went through probate, doing everything we were legally obligated to do to inform everyone he might have owed so they could make their claims. Fortunately, Dad had done well in the years before he passed so there weren't but a couple of unexpected and relatively minor debts, but the point is we paid off everything and everyone, in full. I'm sorry, mister, but you missed your chance and my father's estate, now closed, owes you nothing and I personally don't owe you squat."

"Not quite, Mr. Seiver," he replied, far too smoothly, too confidently, sounding like a slick huckster in an old gangster movie. "You see, the contract he signed required specific notice which was to be made. Ah, here's the clause."

He pointed to a specific spot on the parchment and a magnifying glass appeared in his hand. I didn't read the text, thinking instead about the document as a whole. We'd found a similar scroll of parchment in Dad's things after he died, but it was written in a strange script that we couldn't read so I'd eventually sent it off to a professor only for it to have been lost by the shipper in transit and never be seen again.