The Devil's Bargain Ch. 02

I'd cut my parents off when I moved away. They must have considered it a great betrayal, because they never tried to contact me. I wasn't hiding, and I wouldn't have been that hard to find. But I'd come to realize that many adults were still tied to their families and their parents by bonds of love and guilt. Sometimes it was difficult to tell which of those came first.

Connie was a case in point. It seemed to be much stronger in women, but that didn't mean that men were completely immune.

Holly insisted on helping me clear the table. I loaded the dishwasher, cleaned a couple of pans, and then shooed her into the living room with a re-filled glass.

- "This is so nice." she said.

- "I'm very glad you're here."

- "So am I."

We talked of inconsequential things for a little bit, but it was obvious that we were both thinking of other things. One little kiss led to a much longer one, and we had another torrid necking session.

Holly was more aggressive this time; she undid her bra, and pulled it off under the strap of her halter top. Then she began attacking my clothing. I tried to reciprocate, but she batted away my hands.

- "Let me get even, first." she said. Obviously, she remembered that I'd gone down on her on this couch, and she was now intent on repaying the favour. She kept me pinned, and tried to tease me for a while. But she herself was too impatient to do that for long. She picked up the pace and increased the intensity, sucking me to completion.

I couldn't let that go unpunished. I picked her up, and carried her to my bed. In a matter of moments I had her stripped and on her back, with my head between her legs. I meant to take my time - I needed a chance to recover. But Holly was very, very turned on, and things progressed more quickly than I had planned.

She turned her head and muffled her face in the pillow as she came. A moment later, Holly surprised me by turning over completely, onto her hands and knees. The invitation was all too clear: I slid into her from behind.

She was sopping wet, and hot as a furnace. Thank goodness I'd already come once, in her mouth. Otherwise I'd have been spraying my come inside her in under two minutes.

It was hyper-intense. Maybe Holly was making up for lost time just as I was, but she was extremely passionate. We were both exhausted at the end of that fierce coupling.

As on the previous occasion, she seemed happy to cuddle afterwards. I certainly needed a rest. But it was wonderful to lie there with that lovely woman, holding her beautiful body close to mine.

In due time, that began to have an inevitable effect on me. I began lightly kissing her hair, her ear, and her neck - the last of which she seemed to enjoy. My hand began to stray as well. Soon enough, Holly could feel a strong pressure against her backside.

- "Again?" she said. "You're going to corrupt me."

Even as she said that, she reached behind her to find my erection. She lifted one leg, and tucked the head of my cock just inside her pussy.

"Slow." she said, softly. "I need a minute."

Until Angel, I hadn't had sex at all for almost six years. But I hadn't had slow, unhurried sex for far longer than that - not until Holly had come home with me.

We rocked together gently for a long, long time.

***

Holly came over the next Wednesday; I skipped my usual workout at the Fitness centre; she brought take-out Chinese food. We talked much more than we had before, learning each other's likes and dislikes, and the things that filled out days. I would say that we discussed our leisure time- except that neither of us had very much of that commodity.

It was odd, in a way. We were getting to know each other, like a couple on their first or second date, after (rather than before) having two nights of steamy sex.

I quite liked Holly. In addition to her physical beauty, she was easy to talk to, clever and up-beat. She had a good sense of humour, and a slightly adventurous streak. I wouldn't have said that I was in love with her; after all, her attraction to me was largely based on the magic in those phrases. But I would have to admit that I was seriously infatuated.

We moved to the couch with an after-dinner drink, and Holly sat quite close, obviously comfortable with me. She laughed and swung her legs over my lap. I took the hint, and started rubbing her feet.

- "Oh!" she said. "You didn't have to do that. Ooh... but if you keep going, I won't object."

She definitely enjoyed my attentions, and didn't protest when I began to massage her calves. When I moved a little higher on her legs, under her thin dress, I discovered that Holly wasn't wearing any panties.

- "You seem to be missing something." I pointed out.

- "In my purse." she said.

- "Good place."

Holly sighed as I began to stroke her pussy. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

- "I'm beginning to really like this couch." she whispered.

We ended up with my pants around my knees, and Holly straddling me, with her dress hiked up around her waist. It was fun, fast, and very exciting.

I was looking forward to a second, much more deliberate session once I took her to bed. Unfortunately, Holly had to beg off.

- "I'm sorry, Dan. I can't afford to stay late. I still have some prep to do for a meeting tomorrow morning, first thing. But... I was hoping to tuck you in, and help you get to sleep."

It was another reminder that Holly truly was wedded to her job. I couldn't really object, though, especially since she took me to my room, and helped to undress me and put me to bed. Then she went down on me, and gave me a very nice blowjob.

- "Sleep well." she said, afterwards. "I'll see myself out."

***

Holly' schedule got crowded again. She wasn't able to come over Friday or Saturday night, while I had an invitation to dinner on Sunday. My neighbours, George and Anna, had asked me over.

I believe that I mentioned them before. George and Anna had lived across the street from us for many years. They were very friendly, and very considerate. I don't remember who did the first favour for whom, but during a scorching hot summer, Connie offered them the use of our pool whenever they liked. They had a little girl named Lisa, and for her sake they accepted.

Lisa was a sweet little girl, and very bright, but she had trouble with Grade 9 math. George asked me if I could find out what the difficulty was.

- "Her teacher won't do any extra help after school." he said. George sounded disappointed. And he would know - he was high school geography teacher.

- "That's a shame." I said.

- "I mean, it's not like the teacher doesn't do anything. She's the girls' volleyball coach. But I guess volleyball comes before extra help. She suggested that Lisa ask one of the other kids, or find a tutor."

- "I can take a crack at it, if you like."

- "Would you? Thanks, Dan. I really appreciate it.

Like I said, Lisa was a kid, and quite bright. She was just one of those classic 'right side of the brain' people. She was good with imagination and the arts, but less so with numbers and science. Personally, I think that stuff about right side of the brain versus left side is crap, because Lisa was also very logical, and excellent with language.

Either way, she had a super work ethic, and a plentiful supply of motivation. She wasn't frustrated by this hurdle, but she definitely wanted to get over - or around - it. It only took two coaching sessions for her to catch on. We did a third (maybe an hour each time), just for her to show me the homework she'd done.

George wanted to pay me, or reward me in some way.

- "No. Absolutely not. You guys have done so many nice things for us. And it was easy. Lisa's a great kid."

- "Glad you think so. She can be a handful."

- "George - she's the first fourteen year old I've met who wasn't welded to her phone like it was a life support system. You should be proud of her."

- "I am." he said. "But that's Anna's doing, mostly. Hey: I'm serious. Let us do something for you. Barbecue? Couple of beers?"

I turned my back and tried to touch my shoulder blade with my hand. "Twist my arm."

They were very generous hosts. Anna herself was a primary school teacher, and hyper-organized (the two things seem to go together; the chicken, or the egg?). She put out a great spread, George manned the grill, and Lisa baked a cake, with the words 'Thank you' in icing sugar.

Connie and I were still 'good' in those days. We had some good times with George and Anna, and often invited them over for a swim, with and without their daughter.

Lisa needed some more tutoring in Grade 11. She'd signed up for a Physics class.

- "What on earth made you do that?" I asked her. "It's really heavy on math."

- "I know. But I haven't had trouble with math since Grade 9 - since you helped me. And there a few career paths I've considered that insist on physics."

- "Such as?"

- "Veterinarian. Medicine, maybe."

- "Biology, I can see. Chemistry, too. But physics?"

- "Universities recommend all of the sciences." she said. "And all of the maths."

Yikes. For a kid who struggled with math in Grade nine, this would be a heavy load.

- "Are you sure?"

- "No, Mr. P.." she said. "But that's why I'm trying it out now, before I get to Grade 12 - when it will really count."

Smart kid, as I said. Thinking ahead. As it turned out, physics was a challenge for her, compounded by the fact that she really didn't like it. She wasn't a quitter, though, and stuck to it. With my help (maybe half a dozen tutoring sessions, and cramming for her exam), she managed a respectable pass.

By this time, Connie and I had begun the long downhill slide. Her father passed away, and she was diagnosed with cancer. George and Anna invited us to Lisa's graduation party. Connie didn't feel up to it, but she insisted that I go, to 'maintain appearances'.

Lisa was 17, and looked very pretty in her prom dress. She insisted on introducing me to all of her friends as 'the man who saved me from math and physics'. I was gratified that she hadn't forgotten.

George managed to steer me away for a beer in the backyard.

- "How are you doing?" he asked. Connie hadn't kept her diagnosis a secret. On top of that, George knew better than anyone how difficult the past few years had been for us. He'd cut my grass or shovelled my driveway when he knew that we were occupied with Connie's Dad, or some crisis at her parents' house. Lisa herself had chipped in several times, visiting or walking Freya when Connie and I couldn't get home.

If I made it sound like our neighbours were in our debt, because we let them swim in our pool, or because I tutored their daughter, let me correct that impression: George, Anna, and Lisa repaid us ten-fold.

It became especially one-sided when Connie's father grew sicker, and then passed away, and even more so when Connie was diagnosed. George and Anna had a spare key to our house, so that they could go over and feed the dog, or let her into the backyard to do her business. Lisa also volunteered several times to take Freya on long walks.

Then there were the days I came home to find that George had cut the grass for me, or had put our garbage and recycling bins at the foot of the driveway. I thanked him profusely, of course, and bought him several selections of imported beer, but he always shrugged it off.

- "No big deal." he'd say. "What are neighbours for?"

It was awfully nice of them to invite me over for dinner. Anna was a good cook - she was good at everything, in fact, including gardening and wine. I tried to pick a bottle that she might enjoy, and made my way over.

They were very easy to be with. There was no pretense, no expectations. I could relax and be myself. George knew everyone and everything going on in the neighbourhood. Anna was an authority on many subjects, and I frequently picked her brain.

Lisa had just turned twenty, and was starting her third year of university.

- "I still can't believe it." I said. "How did you get so old so fast?"

- "I can't keep up." said George. "Last week, I thought she was still seventeen."

We got her talking about her university classes. She was still a very keen student - though she'd stayed well clear of math and the sciences after high school.

- "She studies too much." said her mother. "No boyfriend. No wild parties..."

- "You want me to have wild parties?" said Lisa.

- "All work and no play..." said Anna.

Lisa turned to me for support. "I live with two teachers. They bring work home every night - and on weekends. With that kind of role modelling, how did they think I was going to turn out?"

- "Hey!" said George. "I had some pretty wild parties when I was your age."

- "And got caught every time." said his wife, with a smile.

- "Yeah, I could've been smarter about hiding the evidence." he admitted. Then he turned to look at me. "Speaking of evidence... that's a very attractive lady who's been coming over to visit you."

I shouldn't have been surprised. They lived almost directly across the street. Ninety percent of the time, they knew if I was home or not, even if I put the car in the garage. Yes, George was being nosy, but he and his family had been so supportive that it didn't feel like an intrusion.

- "Yes." I said. "It's early days, still - but we're off to a good start."

- "Good for you." said Anna. "you deserve it."

- "Happy for you, man." said George.

*****