Sketchbook

Then the Josie from her softcore pictures took her place, wearing red vinyl and smoking from a cigarette holder. She blew smoke in my face and pulled up her vinyl skirt, revealing a vivid red bush. "Come on little boy, let's see you take a real woman if you can."

One by one they taunted me. Bethany wanted me to fuck her while Sam looked on. Izzy wanted me to fill her with muffins and eat them out. Then Anastacia, re-drew my erection so that it was enormous and taunted me that I would never have one that big.

Then they all appeared back in the circle and went on and on, chanting in unison. "Get yourself a girlfriend," over and over until one by one their faces and voices turned to those of Nigel Pygge. I awoke screaming, in a cold sweat as over a dozen female bodies with Pygge's face taunted me. All except Izzy, who took the real Pygge in her mouth as Anastacia now made his erection impossibly large. The last vision I saw as I returned to consciousness was his huge load raining down on her upturned face, her mouth wide. I was down between her legs chewing on something that should have been muffins but more resembled the things they dissected in Bones.

I lay trembling in a cold, damp bed. In my mind, I tore up my celebrity list, set it on fire and crumbled the ashes into dust.

I made a decision.

No more pedestals.

Chapter 5: Trix

The day I finally plucked up courage to visit Angelfire I was initially disappointed. But the way things turned out... well, let's just say I was glad I went into town to get my mountain bike checked over on its annual service.

I left the bike with the workshop and they said it would be an hour or so. I didn't fancy a coffee and it was too early for the pub, so it was no surprise when I found myself staring at a familiar window, this time trying to take in the dark fantasy artwork and beautiful wildlife drawings instead of those eyes.

It took nearly fifteen minutes, but at last, I summoned the inner strength and walked up to the door. In my mind's eye, Anastacia 'Angelfire' Keltner was going to take me into the backroom and thank me unreservedly for my bravery. She would take my virginity and make a man of me that afternoon. An ornate hand-painted wooden sign proudly proclaimed that 'Angelfire is Open!'

I walked into the lovely open space, full of natural light with dozens of pieces of artwork on the walls and sculptures on central racks. There was a small cash desk with a beaded curtain behind it leading to the back room my fantasy was based on. The one thing there was a complete lack of however was Anastacia. I began perusing the wildlife section with my heart pounding in my chest, wondering where she was. I froze as I heard a swish of beads behind me and turned, hoping to see her emerge from the back room.

My heart sank as I saw a quite short, stocky, tousle-haired girl in her mid-twenties standing there, partially hidden behind the desk and chair. She grinned at me. "Hi, welcome to Angelfire! Looking for anything in particular?" Her voice was sing-song, with what I took to be a French lilt. Her grin was infectious - she had a broad, pretty face and her mouth was wide, full-lipped and generous. She had a lip ring and nose stud and there was a blue streak in her shaggy mop of unruly fair hair. Despite the disappointment of not seeing Anastacia, I found something warm and alluring about her.

I cleared my throat. "Erm, no not really. Been meaning to come in for a while. Angelfi... erm, Ms. Keltner invited me in for a look around."

She beamed back at me. "Ok, anything you need, just shout for Trix, yeah?"

I looked at her blankly.

Shaking her head, she smiled her lovely lop-sided smile. "Trix. Me. As in 'How's tricks?' I said it lot when I came over from France, so Elodie Truffaut became Trix!"

I was warming to her quickly. "Hi, Trix. Thanks." Embarrassed at her attention, I turned back to the artwork before my head snapped back round at what she said next.

"No problems Josh - just let me know if you need any help." She saw the look of astonishment on my face and laughed. "What? You're a bit of a minor legend between here and Confection Confidential! Angel said to look out for you if you came in."

I stammered something that I cannot recall then said, "Is she here?"

My heart sank at her reply. "Not today, no. She's up in London sorting some shit out. She's finalising her move down here and getting the last of her art out of storage. Be up there a couple of days."

Fighting down my disappointment, I decided to try and overcome my lifelong fear of women and try to talk to Trix. She seemed friendly enough. "So are you her assistant then? "

I jumped as she let out a howl of derision. "Assistant? Mon dieu! No - she is the artistic genius but I am her gallery manager - her PA... her muse, her occasional lover..." She laughed as my eyes went wide. "Ok, more than occasional!" She went on, tapping on her fingers, seemingly oblivious to my obvious discomfort. "Also advisor, dogsbody, cat to kick, soundboard and a million other things she wouldn't even realise unless I fucked off back to France." She smiled again. "Which I ain't gonna do coz I love it here!"

As quickly as she had started, she changed tack. "So which ones you like best, huh?" She walked out from behind the desk and I froze once more. She was wearing an off the shoulder blue halter top that revealed her midriff, and those shiny wet look leggings that so many of my fantasy women seemed to wear when tending to my needs of an evening. She took my arm in hers and I could smell musky perfume and the swish of her leggings against my shorts sent electric shocks through me.

For ten minutes she gave me a private tour of the collection. Over sixty percent was by Anastacia, but the remainder was given over to other local artists and sculptors. Finally Trix stood in front of a stunning picture of a butterfly. It was the underwing of an Adonis Blue and the colour and detail were amazing. I loved seeing them in our garden and this one was so realistic it seemed that it could fly out of the frame. Trix pointed at it proudly. "My own little fave!"

I nodded. "Not surprised, it's beautiful!" Her proximity had been making me very uncomfortable for a while now, and it got worse when she hugged me.

"Ah, merci, I do try!" I felt her breath and the softness of her large breasts against me. She grinned and pointed to a tiny signature - 'Elodie T'. She tapped it proudly. "C'est moi!"

Before I could react, she let go of me and ran to the front door. She clicked the lock and turned the elaborate, hand-painted sign around. I now realised it was triangular and as well as the 'Open' face, it also had sides saying, 'Sadly, Angelfire is Closed for the Day' and 'Angelfire is Closed for Lunch -- back soon!' She flipped it to the latter face and skipped back to me glancing at her watch, giving a Gallic shrug. "Ah well, close enough anyway." She took me by the arm again and whispered conspiratorially. "Now my favourite bit of all!" She led me to a small door with a keypad and tapped in a few numbers.

The sign on the door said it all. 'Erotica - Strictly Over-18 Only.' Trix nodded at it. "You are legal, oui?"

I could barely nod and tried out my French. "Oui, j'ai dix-huit ans."

"Bon!" She switched on the light and drew me into a tiny room with barely enough room for the pair of us. I should have been ready for what I saw from the website, but this artwork just assailed the senses. Most were simple pencil drawings, but they were exquisite and so erotic despite their simplicity. There was a larger version of the two tongues touching that I had already seen and another of a tongue stretching towards a puffed-up nipple adorned with a metal bar. Then another of blood red lips sucking on a cherry suspended from another nipple. I found myself getting very aroused, especially when I saw Trix glancing at one of her own breasts. Now I was so close I could see the metal straining beneath the blue halter top and was left in no doubt as to who the subject of the images was.

I couldn't stop my erection from growing. It was a mixture of heaven and hell being teased and aroused like this. I had never been remotely in a position like it and I had no idea how to react. Should I come on to her? She was clearly as aroused as I was, but as usual, I did nothing.

Then she pointed to another drawing, this of a girl straddling another person. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but the girl on top had her back arched, hands on her wide hips. The picture cut off just above her large breasts. Once again there were bars in the nipples and there was a sunburst tattoo encircling her belly button. Trix put her hand on the back of my neck and turned my head downwards. A finger on her other hand traced the same tattoo on her tummy and unbidden, I let out a little groan.

Next she pointed to similar image, this one drawn from behind. The head was thrown back, a mop of shaggy hair falling over her shoulders, a darker streak falling over her eyes. Trix smiled. "Elodie Truffaut, muse of Anastacia Keltner, known to the world as Angelfire." She looked me in the eye. "You have no idea how fucking proud that makes me feel, Josh. Do you like?"

Before I was able to gather my scattered thoughts and tell her just how much I liked, she ran the back of her hand down my erection. As I drew in a ragged breath, she nodded. "Hmm, yes - he likes!"

She turned to face me. "Angel told me to be nice if you came in." Her nostrils were flared and her wide face flushed. She ran her tongue along her lips and turned her hand over on my groin, squeezing gently. I closed my eyes and moaned as for the first time ever I was touched in a sexual manner by fingers other than my own. I felt her hand tug at the zip of my shorts and before I could blink, I could feel the soft skin of her elegant fingers close around my shaft. She nuzzled her lips against mine and I felt her tongue probe. She sucked on my lower lip and taking hold of my left hand, she placed it over one of her large breasts, squeezing down, making my fingers dig into the soft flesh. I could feel the hardness of her nipple bar against my palm.

Her breath was hot in my mouth as she stroked me gently and I knew there was no way I was going to last long. She closed my fingers over her nipple and gasped as I tugged hard. Her voice was as ragged as her breath. "Finger me..." She took my other hand and slid it down the front of her leggings. I could feel the heat from her and it took me a second to realise she was clean shaven. I prayed that this time I wouldn't be rewarded with a stinging slap across my face for my troubles as with the first time I had tried to touch a girl down there.

No, my reward was to slide in effortlessly, feeling her squeeze down on my index and middle fingers as I felt them engulfed by glorious hot, sticky wetness. She was still stroking me gently, fingers dancing and tapping on the head before slowly moving back down the shaft, cupping my balls and tugging gently downwards.

She pulled my hand from between her legs and held my fingers up. She took my index finger in her mouth and nodded for me to do the same with my middle digit. That brief taste of Sally Myddleton came flashing back and I braced myself for a smack across the face, but all that came was a long, lingering kiss as she sucked on my fingers and lips together.

She sensed I was almost done. Smiling, she ran her finger over the head, smearing it with a blob of pre-cum. She licked the rest from her fingers and whispered in my ear. "Fuck my hand gently." She slid my hand back down inside the warmth of her leggings and I slipped back inside her. "Same rhythm - nice and slow, yeah?"

I nodded. "Oh fuck, Trix - this is amazing. Sorry, but I've just got to..." She clamped her mouth to mine and I felt that she was sucking me down into a black hole it was so intense. She encircled the base of my shaft with the finger and thumb of one hand and licked the fingers of the other, coating them in her saliva until it was dripping on the floor. As she closed around me once more, I thrust into her cupped hand and tried to keep it slow. I pulled away from her kiss - I had to see it for myself. I thrust my hips three, four times and felt a huge relieving surge as she released her grip on my base. I watched in awe as for the first time in my life I came as a result of fingers other than my own. I had managed the odd little spurt when especially aroused, but this was a revelation. Trix's eyes went wide as I shot my load, splattering onto the floor of the gallery in a long arcing jet that until that day I thought I was totally incapable of producing.

She purred. "Wow, nice one, Josh! I mainly do girls, but I ain't lost my touch!"

I realised my fingers were still deep inside her, but now not moving it had all been so intense. I looked from her lovely face, alive with lust mere inches from mine, to the images of her on the wall and began to flex and move inside her once more. She hitched her leggings down and took my other hand, closing my thumb and forefinger over the fleshy knub of her clitoris. I recalled getting a fleeting feel of Sally's beneath her hairy mound before the stinging slap and humiliation. This time, I got moans and words of encouragement, some in English, some in French. Then just pure, incoherent sounds of ecstasy and joy as I felt her flooding over my fingers as she tensed and squeezed down on me.

The final kiss she gave me was utterly feral and I thought she was going to eat me whole. Finally, she sank to her knees, breath coming in ragged sobs. For a brief moment, I thought she was going to take me in her mouth, but she gave me the tiniest kiss right on the tip and gently tucked me away and zipped me up.

She held up a hand and I pulled her up. She put her arms around my neck and cuddled into me. It felt good. "Yep, he likes!"

I kissed the top of her shaggy head. "He likes indeed. Jeez, Trix..." I looked around me in wonderment.

She pulled away grinning, waving her hand around the room. "Hey, that's what it's all for. Does it for me every time!" She pointed at the images of herself on the wall. "Can't offer you one, but feel free to take phone pix!"

As I somehow pulled myself back to reality, she left the room briefly, coming back with a large roll of tissue paper. As she mopped up my mess, she grinned up at me. "Did I mention 'cleaner' in my job list?" By the time she had finished I had ten more images for my secret folder on my laptop.

She let me out the back way into a small alley that led down the side of the White Lion running between the High Street and the Square. She reached up and kissed me gently. "So, how would you rate your visit to Angelfire, Sir? On a scale of one equals 'never again' to ten equals an unforgettable, mind blowing, erotic experience that had me coming bucketloads?"

I hugged her, feeling a million dollars. "I'd give it a fifteen, and the wonderful, multi-tasking French girl gets a twenty."

She touched me tenderly on the lips. "First time, yeah?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Trix - it was unforgettable."

"Our naughty little secret, yeah? Glad to have been of service. I got off pretty good too. Do that to all the girls and you'll be a popular boy."

I pouted. "Haven't been too popular so far..."

She shrugged. "It will happen. Just maybe don't fantasise too much over Angel, Izzy, Josie, huh? Let reality happen first and maybe fantasy will follow?"

I knew she was right and after my dream the other night, it was clear I was becoming obsessed. Buoyed by my euphoria, I decided to push my luck. "Same time tomorrow?"

She went all corporate on me. "Sorry sir, our terms and conditions dictate only one introductory offer per household!"

Laughing, I nodded my head resignedly and turned to go. As I the reached the end of the alley, I heard her voice behind me. "Hey, Josh?"

I turned and she was in full-on gamine grin mode. "Maybe move in with your granny for a while huh?"

I decided to celebrate my success with a pint of cider in the White Lion. It was quiet and I showed my ID and sat in a corner reliving possibly the best fifteen minutes of my life. I brought up the Angelfire website on my phone to see if there was anything about Trix on there. Sure enough, below Anastacia's bio, there was a small potted bio of Elodie 'Trix' Truffaut. I just hadn't scrolled down far enough on my previous frequent visits.

She had been Anastacia's PA in London as well as doing private language tuition. She had been at University in Brighton before that and working with Anastacia had rekindled her childhood love of art. At twenty-seven, she had become the gallery manager of Angelfire as well as contributing to the gallery and continuing in her other roles.

I could barely take it in. I had just had my first sexual liaison with a woman nine years my senior, in a private room of an art gallery. Ok, it wasn't full on sex, but she had done things to me I had only dreamed of. I began to think that maybe I had dreamed it all when I realised that as I had been tapping on my phone, I had switched to drinking with my left hand. The hand that had been mainly fumbling about inside Trix's sheer leggings. I could still smell her heady, musky aroma on me as I held my glass to my mouth.

I drained my glass and rearranged myself down below to make getting up a little easier. The gent's toilet in the White Lion, Amberdown wasn't the most salubrious place for what I intended and I was back to my own fair hand once more.

But at least this time as I came, I could smell and taste the juices of a real-life beautiful woman on my fingers instead of imagining.

Chapter 6: Girl Next Door

I had largely steered clear of the town centre for a while. I wouldn't know how to handle meeting Trix again and I was so far successfully weaning myself off my celebrity list. My new list of favourites did that sort of thing for a living so I felt they were fairer game and there was certainly less chance of bumping into them.

I was spending a lot of time at the cricket club. A few us were in the nets most days, honing our skills and trying new things. It was after one such session that I returned home to find the signboard next door had been removed. New neighbours then -- I could only hope they would be as nice as the Metcalfe's had been.

My Mum didn't work on Wednesdays, so had been at home most of the day. Over dinner, she casually dropped a little bombshell on me. "Met the new neighbour today. Seems very nice. Had a really long chat with her and she mentioned the garden needed a good overhaul. I hope you don't mind, but I volunteered you to go and have a word with her. Sounds like it could be right up your street and I know how you used to love looking after it when Wilf and Mary..."

She tailed off and we both looked at each other sadly. But she was right -- it sounded great. My Dad was still working on a big contract across the county and I wouldn't be starting with the business until we began a new lucrative job for a local minor stately home later in the summer.

I cleared my plate and stuck it in the dishwasher and began to head upstairs. My mum popped her head through the kitchen door. "Told her you'd pop round at eleven tomorrow. No Test Match to interfere with your plans is there?"

I shook my head. "No, sounds great thanks mum. Look forward to it."

I was halfway up the stairs when the bombshell went nuclear. "I think you'll get on well. She runs that new shop in town. What's it called again?"

My blood turned to ice as I stopped on the stairs. "What, the gallery? Angelfire?"

"Yeah that's it. Anastacia something. Lovely lady."

The rest of the night went by in a haze of static. I kept looking out of the bedroom window, binoculars ready, hoping to catch a glimpse of her in the garden, but I watched in vain. I was terrified, excited and mortified in equal measure.