The Tawdry Tangerine Farewell Pt. 05

He let finger stroke inside me but switched his mouth to soft kisses on my outer lips and thighs. Then I felt that index finger turn more determined. A second finger joined it for a second — I thought to see if I liked being more filled, but no. It was for lube. That finger slid to my anus, playing with the nerves around there in soft stroking motions. "Mm?" he hummed the question.

"Yes," I gasped.

The mouth descended again with teasing, intermittent flicks on my button. That second finger added light presses against the muscle, spreading the juices and the saliva I could feel starting to flood downward. The press got more insistent and I allowed him entry, it sliding in just enough to fire every nerve around it. No prostate inside for me but nerves lined that opening, all screaming pleasure at the double intrusion into kitty and ass. In and out he sawed, the sharp jolts of pleasure combining with the warm glow of the molly, waiting for my cycle of pleasure to build up again. Breathing turned to panting. My hands locked in his hair to urge him, and his mouth fastened once more onto my sweet spot in an unrelenting and accelerating caress of soft tongue against hard nub. His other hand gripped the cheek of my ass to lock my pelvis against his face in a hold that wouldn't allow escape even if I wanted to flee the onrushing wave of my climax. I'm not a screamer, but I came close.

When I quieted, his tentative stroking of my leg and soft kisses down there let me know he was ready to do it yet again if I wanted, but I didn't. I wanted the main event, not immediately, but damn soon. "Come up here," I said. Soft kisses turned to hard Frenching. His hand grasped a breast, squeezing and sliding over the curves. "Too small for you?" I asked tentatively, afraid anything less than centerfold material didn't cut it for this guy.

"Not even remotely." He turned away from nuzzling my neck. "That's twice you've asked about them. Stop. They are hot as hell and"—he met my eyes with a sheepish little-boy grin—"actually, I've been checking them out for, umm, a few months now."

Oh my God! I practically came just hearing that. I wanted this guy. Right. Fucking. Now. But, patience, Molly. Enjoy the ride.

I relaxed back and let him have his fun, enjoying the compression, the moisture and warmth of his mouth, the twinges as teeth brushed the areola, the flash of lust brought by a tongue stroking roughly right over the point of the nipple. To say I was ready again, would be an understatement. "What are your favorite positions?" I asked.

He looked up at my face. "Oh, I guess you on top. Umm, and missionary. I like to see a woman's face."

I rolled up on one elbow. His face had the flush I expected. His eyes were bright and the light sheen of sweat showed he felt warm.

"On your back. I'm going to get you rock hard, then ride you. If you can, I want you to wait until I come. Tell me to slow down if you need to, but I want one good one with that thing of yours in me." He nodded. "After, we're going to roll over until you're on top, and then I want you to take me hard ... as hard and as fast as you'd like. Rick," I gave him a wicked smile, "I want to be sore in the morning."

We did. Without waiting for an answer, I slid down and sucked him deep into my mouth. I wasn't going for throat this time, just warm-up. When I heard his breathing start to quicken, I moved on top, took his cock in my hand, and slowly lowered myself down its length. My hands on his shoulders to support my weight, I rode.

"Slow a moment," he breathed at one point. I did, taking care not to move up and down but allowing a little circular grind against his pubic hair. "Okay." Back to the vertical motion, my eyes never leaving his. "Slow." Again, shifting gears to masturbate against his body. I didn't mind. I felt the pressure building in me and knew I'd get there very soon, regardless.

I started a third time. I felt myself getting close and, without him saying anything, paused the up-and-down, went back to grinding, allowing him to subside a little. I didn't want any interruption in what came next. "Don't come now," I begged breathlessly and began to go for real. I'd timed it well, five or six strokes in I felt the first spasm, then the second, and then I slammed myself all the way down on him and rocked my pelvis frantically against his to work my clit against his body. Wave after wave went through me. My nails left marks in his shoulders. I fucking came like a freight train.

I was barely returning to awareness when I felt myself upended and thrown onto my back. I asked for hard and I got hard. I knew I'd feel this in the morning. Labia and cervix would say, "WTF?" But, for now, I wallowed in the pleasure I could see on his face, the flush spreading down his neck and chest, the recoil of my legs from the impact of his hips. I reached up and fondled those shoulder muscles that were as hard as the stone he worked with, stroked over the pecs and down the sides of the abs. I flattened my shoulders back to let him see my breasts sway in time as his eyes alternated between my chest and my face. I let my hips rise to meet his thrusts, letting him know I liked being fucked by him, that I wanted nothing more than his dick in me, and that there was no such thing as too hard or too fast. His eyes closed and he made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a groan as he pushed deep and held it, then one quick retreat and another slam all the way in, then a third before a long sigh of pleasure for the final shudders.

Rick

We both drowsed briefly. I came to first, looking down to the head nestled on my shoulder before traveling down over the breast lying against my ribs, the hips snuggled against mine so that one leg could be thrown over.

My first thought was, holy shit! This was Molly. My best friend. What the fuck was I doing screwing that up by having sex with her? Then her eyes opened. She took a moment to focus and then a big smile spread across her face. "Hey."

"Hey."

Her hand made little circular motions on my chest. I felt her hips shift and the sandpapery feel of closely trimmed bush against my hip. Her smile widened. "Can you go again?"

"I ... umm ... maybe."

She contemplated me for a long moment. The smile didn't leave her face. Maybe things weren't totally screwed up. "I have some Viagra in my purse." My eyes widened at that. She carried that stuff? "Will you take it?"

"I..."

When I didn't complete that, she shook her head slightly. "I'm not making a comment about performance. You were great and it's been, what, ten minutes? I'm not an idiot." She leaned down and gave me a kiss on the shoulder. "We can wait until morning if that's what you want. But, if you're willing to accept a little chemical help, I'd very much like to go again. I'd really like a long, slow, sexy fuck with you."

"You have a potty mouth, you know?"

"You've mentioned it once or twice. If you want to call it making love, I'm okay with prudes." She grinned to let me know she was kidding. "But, right now, Rick, what I want is really intimate and unhurried and with you."

I took the Viagra. She spent time helping it along. Her mouth traveled up and down my body, tiny bites alternating with kisses and then leisurely nursing on me below. She stared at the signs of it coming back to life with satisfaction.

"Will you go down on me now that we've had sex?" She was walking her knees up the side of my body, almost as if the question was pro forma.

"Of course I will." That got me a huge smile. I let her kneel over my face, pulling her down onto my mouth to spend my own long minutes exploring her with my tongue and lips. She'd raise her hips when she got close, smiling to herself as her breathing calmed, then lower back down for more. Over and over she edged herself until she could tell my tongue was getting tired.

"One of my favorites is prone. I know it's not one of yours but, please, do it for a while and then we can finish the way you like." She moved beside me and stretched out flat on her stomach, legs spread enough that I'd have access. As I moved in to cover her, she raised her hips just enough that I could enter and then slowly pressed down against the mattress, taking care not to dislodge me. "Just like that," she sighed. "It hits the good spots just like that."

One of her hands went underneath her belly. I could feel her fingers brush me as she started a very slow frigging motion. The other arm stretched out to lie flat like the rest of her body. "If you go on your elbows, you can hold my breasts." I obliged.

It was curiously intimate, far more so than up on our knees from behind. My entire lower body was in contact with her, my abdomen rocking on the fulcrum of her ass, my hands kneading her breasts. I moved slowly and carefully. The tickle of her fingers against my balls felt good. Occasionally I'd pause to make sure that I wasn't getting myself ahead of her, dropping my mouth to kiss my way across her neck and shoulders.

The minutes stretched by. Her breathing deepened. Tiny sighs were coming from her on each inward stroke. "Please don't speed up," she begged. "Just like that." I felt her fingers begin to work faster against her clit. "But you don't have to be gentle with my breasts." I squeezed harder, and shifted my hands so that thumbs and middle fingers could roll the nipples between them. "Oh. Oh. Oh!" The last was drawn out in a long exhale of gratification and a press of round butt firmly back into me as I pushed down hard to pin her the way she obviously wanted.

"That was perfect," she sighed contentedly. The hand beneath her came out and reached back to stroke my flank. "If you let me up, I'll face you."

She pulled me down for a long kiss after she turned. "Thank you. Now you. Any way you want it."

I took her at her word. Lying flat on her, I rolled over until she was on top, eliciting a small yip of surprise and a giggle. She started to sit up but I stopped her. "No, flat. Let me feel your breasts against me and kiss me during."

I wasn't checking the clock but my turn didn't take as long. She did all the work, letting me just savor the sensations. Her pelvis did a slow roll up and down, letting me slide within her a few inches either way. She kept her breasts flattened against my chest, my hands lightly tracing where they bulged to the side from the pressure, over and back to the curve of her butt. Her mouth feasted lazily on mine, alternately aggressive and accepting.

I came for the third time, her tongue practically raping my mouth during the throes. When she was sure I was done, the kisses turned gentler, and then she smoothly disengaged and slid to my side, head on my shoulder. "I love making love with you," she said softly and burrowed in. Sleep claimed us both.

I woke around six thirty, a gentle snore coming from next to me. I needed to pee badly, so I got up, careful not to wake her, then went out to put coffee on. Rachel was almost always up by this time.

▸ You awake?

◂◂ Yeah but can't believe this is my brother at this hour

▸ Bite me. I have a question.

◂◂ Shoot

▸ Molly and me???

The reply wasn't instantaneous and I feared she was searching for something like, "Are you a complete idiot?" I'm not quite as oblivious as Rachel thinks and I know how she'd felt about a couple of girlfriends in the past, Destiny especially.

◂◂ As in: Molly and me ♥♥♥? LOL

▸ Why are you a jerk? I wanted advice. Never mind.

I petulantly ignored the ding of an incoming text. Then another. Then the phone rang. I was tempted to just send it to voicemail but I answered.

"I'm sorry. I was just teasing."

"I may have just fucked up one of the few good things in my life. I'm not really in the mood to be teased."

"Rick," Rachel said forcefully, "I guarantee that you haven't fucked up anything."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just that, if she made a move on you last night, you haven't fucked up anything unless you embarrassed her. You didn't do that, did you?"

"No, I—"

"Then you haven't fucked up anything."

I heard noise behind me and turned to see Molly in the doorway of the bedroom, dressed only in one of my t-shirts. "Do I smell coffee?"

"I gotta go," I said into the phone.

"Wait! She's there? Rick, all BS aside, she totally has the sister seal of approval." That surprised me. I'd noticed that Rachel never seemed that close to Molly, though she always denied anything was wrong.

I hung up and turned. I wasn't sure what to say. She took a look at my face and forestalled anything. "Look, we can be all weird about this. Or..." she headed for the coffee maker, "we can just skip that part and move onto whatever comes next." She grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and poured, not looking at me. "There's really only one thing." She rooted in the fridge for milk. "For you, was that a one-night stand after too much adrenaline, or something more? I'd like to know either way."

"Umm..."

She turned to face me. I could tell she was tenser than her words implied. "Just spit it out, Rick. I swear you'll still be my best friend no matter which it is."

"What do you want?" Basic nerd defense strategy: toss the ball away.

"I've been ready for this for years. I'd like it to be more than a hookup, but it's your call."

That took me by surprise. She read the expression on my face. "I know. You're not exactly Sherlock Holmes when it comes to this kind of thing."

"Why didn't you let me know?"

Surprisingly, she didn't hit me with some typical-Molly answer like, "Duh, shithead!"

"I've got a simple rule." I felt a twinge of humor: it reminded me of what Gavin had said, though I was pretty sure the next words would be different. "I don't cheat and I'm not interested in guys who do. If I'd let you know, and you were willing, I guarantee I'd have lost interest pronto. If you weren't willing, then all I would have done is make things awkward. Plus, you made a promise and I respect those kinds of things."

I thought about it. She let me ponder, doctoring her coffee and then hunting around for English Muffins. I thought about what Leah had said last night. "You and Leah planned this. She didn't have to go back early for a job, did she?"

"No."

I thought about who my best friend was. I mulled over the adult-only thoughts I'd had the last few months that included Molly, even one or two after I had a friend-with-benefits. I thought about what she'd just revealed: that she'd kept it from me so as not to cause a problem. Mostly, I reflected on the person I felt ... happy ... being near. The answer seemed pretty obvious. "I kinda like having you around this way, Molls. A whole bunch. I vote more than just a hookup."

I watched her shoulders drop down off the figurative coat hanger they'd been on, her entire body relaxing. She gave a quiet sigh, "Works for me."

Mark had found me about a week after. I was getting The Nut Flush ready to move back to its regular mooring and was taking a break for lunch. "Can I come aboard?"

He dropped into the seat across the table from me. "You know," he said without preamble, "when I first heard the news that a member of this club had been badly beaten aboard his boat and you found him, I started to get concerned." He dropped a newspaper down, open to the headline that read, "Local Businessman Victim of Robbery".

I didn't say anything.

"I set that article down in front of Sophia at breakfast this morning, and damned if I didn't see an expression of satisfaction on her face." He stared out the side window at the water.

"I told you before that Sophia is privy to a lot of stuff that she can't tell me, and one of the rules of our marriage is that I don't question what she doesn't offer, so I didn't ask her anything." He glanced at me. "I'd just like a word or two — purely hypothetical, of course — to ease my mind."

I met his gaze and gave him what he wanted. "Coercing women into sex."

His gaze went back out to the water. His mouth tightened. "Was Sophia one of the targets?"

"Not successfully." His eyebrows went up but he didn't ask me to elaborate.

He gave a little nod and stood. He reached out to shake my hand. "You called it right. I'm not the slightest bit angry with Sophia. Stop by sometime, anytime at all, for a drink. We'd like that."

It wasn't long until Connor Thompson was in the news again: "Prominent VC charged in Sextortion" was splashed on the crawl of the local news channel.

"Go, Rebecca." Molly looked at me quizzically from the kitchen where she was cutting vegetables for dinner. I pointed at the TV, adding, "Though it's blackmail, not extortion." Frank would laugh if he heard me say that.

I picked up the remote to try to find something worth watching when I felt a hand touch my shoulder and slide up to cup the back of my head. When I looked up, Molly leaned in and gave me a soft kiss, one totally unlike the demanding embraces of the last few weeks. Her eyes were shiny, like she was close to crying. She smiled, gave me a second kiss, and went back to the kitchen.

Kate's Epilog

I drove Sammie over to Rick's studio to drop her off. He was spending a lot of time there trying to get a piece finished. I assumed it was the commission for Victoria Carter.

I was still a bit irked at that whole article thing, but I was actually in a good mood overall. I'd been spending more time with Sammie, which kept me occupied now that I didn't have Scott to entertain me. I'd asked Rick if he would let me have a couple of extra days with her. I was feeling down and some mother-daughter time seemed just the ticket, maybe a long weekend trip. Up until now, Rick and I'd adhered to the visitation schedule reasonably closely. We'd each had an occasional "Something came up. Can you take her tonight?" but that was it. So, I had been a little nervous about asking for this.

"Rick, I have a favor to ask."

"Okay, what?"

That was a surprise right there: no hostility in his tone. "I'd like to keep Sammie a couple extra days and take her Disney World. Just the two of us. No one else." I rushed to get that last part in before he responded. I knew he worried about being supplanted as Sammie's dad. We weren't to the point of casual conversation, yet, and I hadn't told him about the Scott situation. He didn't immediately respond, so I started to fill the silence. "I know it's a—"

He interrupted me. "I guess that would be okay. She'll love it. You'll get some major brownie points with the munchkin."

"Oh!" I was so surprised, it took me a second to remember to say, "Thank you. The next big thing can be yours so we're even."

Now, a week later, the shock hadn't entirely worn off at how amiable that conversation had been. In fact, his whole attitude seemed to have changed, a hopeful sign. I'd practically fallen over on Friday when he asked if I wanted coffee while we waited for Sammie to gather her stuff. I guess my apology had been a great first step. Not to mention, my conscience prompted, that it was the right thing to do. Hopefully, I could mend my mistakes despite how hopeless that had seemed eight months ago.

As I pulled up outside his studio, I saw Sophie's beautifully restored vintage Mercedes with the "SL 4 SL" license plate Mark had put on it when he gave her the car. Everyone turned when Sammie bounced in with her usual shriek of, "Daddy!" and yelling, "Look at my mouse ears!" I got a small nod of greeting from Rick, a warm smile from Sophie, and a cool one from Molly.

Rick scooped her up onto his shoulders and, after everyone had admired her ears, they turned back to the painting they had been looking at. It was a portrait of Sophie. Though I didn't want to say anything nice about Molly — my irritation with her and Rachel hadn't completely disappeared — I had to admit it was a good likeness. Sophie stared at it for a long time without saying anything.