The Taboo Transformation Ch. 01

"Not this time," she whispered to it. "This time we have to wait."

*****

Jeff finally appeared a few minutes later, pulling his mower over from his house. Jane met him on the porch. He was dressed in a pair of beige cargo shirts, an old t-shirt, sandals, and a grubby baseball hat. Despite his informal attire, she still felt her mouth grow dry with lust, and she squeezed her legs together unobtrusively, feeling her pulse beat in her thighs, her inner lips opening.

"So, do you need to plug this in anywhere?" she asked curiously, trying to hide her desire. "I know you use electric mowers, not gas."

He nodded. "Yeah, gas mowers are large, smelly, and annoying." He paused for a beat. "Just like some guys I knew in college," he added as Jane laughed. "But no," he continued. "No cords, no extensions." he slapped the handle. "This baby is completely battery-powered. Just charge it up and you're ready to go."

Boys and their toys. Jane smiled to herself. "Well, I'll let you get to work. When you're done, come on out back to the pool. I'll have a glass of wine ready for you."

Jeff made a face. "Could you make it a beer instead? I wouldn't know the difference between a good glass of wine and a bottle of vinegar."

She laughed, the sound startlingly cheerful in her own ears. "It's a deal."

*****

Jane sat in a deck chair by the pool, a forgotten book propped open by her side. Remembering what had happened to Zach, she wore sunglasses and a floppy fishing hat, a token of a long-ago trip to the North Woods. As added protection, her skin was also slathered in a thick layer of suntan oil. She anxiously listened to the low hum of the electric mower as Jeff pushed it back and forth across the yard, outside the high privacy fence which hid him from her view. Despite his words earlier, she had no assurance he would come by after he was done. He might decide to simply go home.

A little more than an hour later, Jeff walked through the gate which separated the pool from the back yard. His shirt was matted with sweat, and bits of grass clung to his shins and calves. "Whew," he said, dropping heavily into a chair beside her. "That back yard is bigger than it looks. I wasn't sure I had enough juice to do the whole thing at once. I thought I might have to recharge the battery." He reached into the ice bucket and pulled out one of the beers Jane had thoughtfully set aside. He twisted the cap off and took a long drink. "Damn, that hits the spot. Thanks, Jane." He pulled off his hat and hung it on the arm of the chair, raking a hand through his black hair. It stood up in sweat-sharpened spikes, and Jane had to bite back a smile. "How much land do you have back here, anyway?"

"Nearly half an acre," she replied proudly, taking off her sunglasses so she could meet his eyes. "It's more than I need, really, with the kids mostly away at school. But when I bought the place I wanted them to have somewhere they could run around. And now that they're mostly grown up, I can't imagine selling it."

"It's a real nice place. And you guys take good care of it." He looked down at the grass which ringed the edge of the pool. "Do you want me to mow here, too?"

Jane waved a dismissive hand. "Zach can do it. It never grows too long here anyway. We're usually trampling it down all summer long. If I'm not in the pool, Colleen is. Or the kids have some of their friends over for a party. This area gets a lot of traffic."

Jeff nodded in reply, and a comfortable silence settled over them, broken only by the faint rustling of the leaves in the trees overhead, stirred by a faint breeze, and the chirping of robins, finches, and cardinals as they flitted back and forth. The sky was deep blue, dotted by puffy white cumulus clouds that occasionally drifted over the sun. It was, in short, a perfect summer's day, and they sipped their drinks companionably.

"This is nice," Jeff commented. She gave a slight sound of agreement, and he continued. "Every winter I wonder why I live up here. And then summer comes and answers the question."

"You're not from around here?"

"Nope. I grew up in Illinois. A little town near Springfield. I moved up here for the job after I graduated from the U of I."

"That's right." Jane remembered how proud Jeff had been when Lillian had told him she was going to the University of Illinois. Almost as if she were his own daughter. And he had poked fun at Zach for opting for Wisconsin.

"Well, I've had enough lazing around in the sun for one day," she said, taking off her hat and standing up. She pushed down her shorts, enjoying the way Jeff's eyes widened as her bikini came into view. "I'm going in for a swim. Care to join me?"

He looked down at his sweat-stained clothes and grimaced. "I'm not exactly dressed for it. And I'll get grass and crud in your pool."

She smiled at him. "The filter can take care of it, or you can go home and change into a suit, if you like. Or if you don't have one, you can just wear your shorts. Zach does it all the time." She went to the small diving board at the deep end, bounced once, and entered the water in a high swan dive. She surfaced to see Jeff staring at her with his mouth open. "What?" she asked, wiping water out of her eyes.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "You looked...so graceful. Like a duck landing on a pond at sunset."

She sputtered in disbelief, despite the way her heart warmed at Jeff's unexpectedly poetic words. "A duck?"

"Quack," he said with a smile.

She swiped her arm through the water, sending up a sheet of spray that coated him from head to waist. "Come in here and say that!" she demanded with a grin.

In response, he stood up and peeled his t-shirt off. She hung motionless, treading water quietly, as his muscled chest came into view. Her pulse beat faster, throbbing in her throat, as she took in the clean, flat lines of his body. Not the over-developed, steroid-enhanced muscles of a bodybuilder. Rather, the body of a man who exercised regularly and took good care of himself. His chest was sparsely coated with hair, but a honey trail led from his navel downwards, disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts. He kicked off his sandals, which allowed her to eye his legs hungrily.

She backed away from the board as he climbed up. But her fears of a retaliatory cannonball were wasted. Instead, he entered with a creditable dive of his own. Not fancy, but simple and efficient.

They swam together for some time, enjoying the warm water and quiet of a Sunday afternoon. Jane was tempted to duck under the water and try to peel off his shorts, but resisted the temptation firmly. Eventually the two of them moved over to the wall, hooking their arms over the edge to support themselves while letting their legs hang free below the water.

"Thanks for inviting me over."

"No problem. You know you're welcome to come over and use the pool as often as you like. The girls are fond of you, you know."

He gave a snort. "You mean they look at me like a steak they want to eat," he said, as she giggled. He shook his head. "God save me from young girls. Where were they when I was eighteen and could have used the attention? No. I prefer women. Not teenagers."

"Colleen's twenty-one," she pointed out.

"Are we seriously going to split hairs about this? Come on, Jane. When you get to be our age, they all look like young whippersnappers compared to us old folks."

"Right," she said mockingly. "You're about ready for the old-folks home, you're so crippled and decrepit. You're not even as old as I am. What are you, thirty-four?" Holding her breath, she shifted closer, until their arms were nearly touching. "So if you're not looking for a girl, what are you looking for?" She raised her hand out of the water and set it on Jeff's shoulder. Silky trails of water snaked down his skin and back into the pool, throwing up glints of sunshine.

He turned to face her. "A woman. A smart woman, who knows her own mind. Not some silly, bouncy sorority girl with her head full of fluff like the ones my friends keep trying to set me up with. I don't have the patience for that sort of nonsense." He shook his head. "I'm even getting it from my mom. She keeps asking when I'm going to get remarried and give her some grandchildren. As if my sisters haven't given her five already."

"Don't you like kids?"

"Of course I like kids." His voice was slightly impatient. "But to get married just because my mother has a case of granny fever? No." His lips thinned.

She kept one hand on the lip of the pool to support herself, but the rest of her body was hanging free in the water. She raised her free hand, unable to believe her daring, and stroked back a lock of hair which had fallen over his forehead. With a slight kick of her legs, she allowed her body to drift closer to his, until their chests were nearly touching. "It sounds like you know what you want," she whispered. She caught the quick flicker of his eyes as he looked down at her body, then back up again. "I know what I want too. It's been...the last few days have been strange ones, Jeff. I've had my eyes opened, in more ways than one. And one thing I think I've learned is that I don't want to live the rest of my life alone. I want someone with me. Someone I trust. Someone I know would never hurt me or my family."

She moved even closer, until their bodies were touching, from chest to thighs. She wrapped an arm around his waist, her fingers stroking the warm skin of his back.

"Will you be that man for me, Jeff?"

His eyes were wide as he gazed down at her, his earlier dismissive words about women long gone. "Jane, you're beautiful." Her face burned and she stared at him, disbelieving. No one had ever called her beautiful before. "And you're so smart I feel like an idiot compared to you." He gave an abortive gesture towards the house. "You have everything you can possibly want. Why me? I've been hurt before. I don't know..." His breath caught and she could see the gleam of tears in his eyes. "After Bonnie...I don't know if I can be that sort of man again."

She laid her head against his strong chest, feeling the thud of his heartbeat through his skin. A tense shiver racked his body, and she suddenly had a startling insight.

He's afraid.

And why not? As far as I know, he's been celibate since before Bonnie died. And he loved her. Deeply. Remember what he looked like at the funeral? He was devastated.

Oh, Jane. You just bit off a lot more than you thought you were going to have to chew. You should have gone to a bar and picked up some hot young piece of ass. Instead, you've got a fragile man who has walled himself off from the world to hide his pain.

She smiled gently, trying to calm him. "I'm not demanding a life-long commitment, Jeff. But I would like...I would very much like the chance to get to know you better." She swallowed. "In bed.

"The kids are gone. They won't be back for hours. We have the whole house to ourselves." Below the water, their groins were touching, the rough cloth of his shorts pressing against the sheer red material of her bikini. Was it only her imagination, or did she feel a stirring as the material shifted?

"Jeff?"

Slowly, like the tail of a shy kitten, his arm came around, moving through the water. She felt his hand press into the small of her back, his fingers spread wide. Gently, he pulled her against him, until they were molded together from chest to thighs. Then he lowered his head to hers and took her mouth in a long, passionate kiss.

Oh!

His mouth was firm, but his lips were gentle. He tasted, faintly, but not unpleasantly, of sweat and grass and chlorine from the pool. She raised a hand to his smooth cheek, clean-shaven that morning. Her skin burned where it touched him, and below her waist she could feel the evidence of his arousal. Even through layers of cloth, his stiffness was more than evident, and she pressed into him, wanting to merge with him, wanting him to merge with her, to be inside her.

Her mouth opened, and she let her tongue glide over his lips, the tip darting out, asking for entry. With a whispered moan he opened to her, and she wrapped her arms hard around his back as their mouths and tongues began to dance together, exploring feverishly.

He was so gentle. Soft and sweet and kind, but the same time undoubtedly, exuberantly male. She ran her hands down the strong muscles of his back, dipping below the waistband of his shorts until she could grasp the firm globes of his rear. Her fingers caressed him, first stroking, then kneading, then dipping towards the crack of his ass, drifting towards the rose of his sphincter. When her exploring fingertip brushed it he jerked in her arms, his mouth parting from her with a muffled gasp.

"A little more slowly, okay?" he asked. "I'm not old enough to need a prostate exam yet."

She smiled, but kept her hands on his ass-cheeks. "I am a doctor, you know," she murmured against his lips. "How long has it been since you've had an examination?"

"There's nothing wrong with me there," he said, then caught his breath as her hand moved between their bodies, seeking out his male hardness. "Or there." His voice sounded slightly strangled in Jane's ears.

"Let me be the judge of that," she admonished. Her fingers, skilled in the way of surgery, made short work of the buttons of his shorts. In seconds she had gained entry and her hand eagerly found what her imagination had dreamed about. There. Yes, there he was. His length filled her palm, hot, hard, and insistent. She curled her fingers around it and gave it an experimental stroke, smiling as Jeff trembled against her. "No. Nothing wrong at all."

"Jane..." He breathed. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Don't take this as a complaint, but if you keep that up, you're going to have something worse than grass clippings in the pool." He gave a slight nod to his right arm, which was responsible for carrying both their weights. "And my arm is starting to cramp."

"I wouldn't consider it to be worse," she mused, clinging to him tightly. She could not get enough of the feel of his body on hers. "I mean, it is a perfectly normal bodily function. And judging by some of the sounds I've heard out here, it wouldn't be the first time it's happened." But she decided to take pity on him. "However, there are better places where we can make love. My bedroom, for instance."

With an athletic twist, she was out of the pool and seated on the rim. "Come on," she said, climbing to her feet. "Let's go inside."

*****

"Want to take a shower?" she asked, as soon as they were upstairs. She undid the ties of her swimsuit, letting it fall into a sodden heap on the floor.

Jeff looked at her askance. "Is this some sort of...thing with you?" he asked. Despite his doubtful words, his eyes were hot as they roamed over her nude body. "Water and pools and showers?"

She laughed. "No, it isn't. I just want to wash the chlorine off my skin and out of my hair. Come on, lover boy," she said fondly, pulling down his shorts firmly. "My turn."

The heavy material hit the hardwood floor with a splat, and her eyes widened happily. What her hands had eagerly explored was now revealed to her waking eyes. His cock was beautiful, jutting proudly from a froth of curly black pubic hair. As she watched, fascinated, it bounced in front of her, bobbing slightly in time with Jeff's heartbeat.

"Oh, darling," she said softly. She raised her eyes to meet his. "You're lovely." She leaned forward, kissing the shaft, then drawing her tongue up the underside in a long, lingering lick.

"Oh, Christ," Jeff said. From the corners of her eyes, she could see his hands clench spasmodically. She mouthed his erection, then rubbed her cheek against it, feeling the baby-soft skin of his phallus overlaying his male hardness. Her mouth watered, and she ran her hands up his calves to his thighs, feeling the fine black hair, beaded with moisture, part under her fingertips. She reached the red, spongy tip, and licked his slit, tasting the faintest hint of musk and seed on her tongue. Beneath her, he jerked in surprise and pleasure.

No. Not yet. This isn't what he wants, not really. And it isn't what I need. Reluctantly, she pulled away and led him to her bathroom and to the large, walk-in shower. Turning on the water, she stepped in, pulling him in after her.

"You can relax, you know," she told him. "I'm not going to bite. Unless," she continued with a gleam of humor, "you want me to." She ducked her head under the warm spray, washing the chlorine out of her hair, then picked up a bottle of body wash. Moving to one side, she motioned for him to take her place.

Closing his eyes, he moved under the cascading water. "It's just so sudden," he said when he emerged. "I mean, I've always liked you. And respected you. But I never expected this."

"And why would you?" she answered as she began to lather her skin. She passed him the slippery bottle of body wash. Where their fingertips met, there was an almost perceptible jolt of electricity. "Who expects things like this to happen?

"It's like I said, Jeff." She turned and presented her back to him in a not-too-subtle hint, then sighed happily when he began to soap her back. His hands were strong but gentle on her skin. "I've had some changes in my life. It's as if a wall has been broken down. One that kept me from being open to new experiences. I suddenly realized if I didn't make a change, I was going to die obscenely rich, but probably alone as well.

She began to rinse off, watching the suds circle down the drain in the tile floor. "Well, I've got no problem with being rich. Money is useful. But I'll be damned if I going to live alone once the kids move away. I want to share my life with someone. Share my body with someone as well."

"But why me?"

Good grief. Are all good-looking men so dense? "Why not you? We've been friends for a long time. I know you're a good person. You treat people right. Plus, as my nieces would say, you're a stone-cold hottie.

"And right now I want to take a ride on your dick."

With that, she stepped out of the shower, grabbing a large, fluffy towel from the rack. She dried off slowly, listening to the sounds as Jeff finished showering and turned off the water.

When he emerged, she turned to face him. "So? Are we going to bed? Or not?" In her own ears, her voice was slightly harsh, but also filed with subtle pain. Please, God, no. Not another rejection. Not now. "If you're not interested, just let me know. You can go back home and I'll pretend this never happened. I don't want a sympathy fuck."

Oh, and that is a complete lie. I would totally take a sympathy fuck. Or a mercy fuck. Or any kind of fuck. Her pussy was hot, the lips turned outwards, her libido brought to a boil by the near-constant teasing it had been receiving over the last few hours. She wanted nothing more than to lie flat, spread her legs, and have Jeff take her in any way he pleased. But she was plagued with doubts. Having seen her body, would he turn away from her, just as all other men had?

Instead, Jeff took her into his arms. His cheek was warm against hers. "I think you're absolutely gorgeous," he whispered into her ear. In proof, she felt his cock twitch where it was pressed into her thigh. "I've wanted to ask you out for months. But something always stopped me.

"I was afraid. Afraid of dishonoring Bonnie's memory. Afraid of approaching you. Afraid of how Zach and Lillian and Colleen would react.

"Afraid of risking love again."

She backed away and set a finger against his lips, halting any more words. Taking his hand, she drew him into the bedroom. With a slight nudge, she pushed him onto the bed, where he sprawled onto his back. Even as she took control, he looked up at her, his eyes gleaming with hidden amusement. She smiled down at him. Here, she thought, was a good man. One who did not have make others feel small so he could feel big. One who would be content to let her take the lead.