Weathering the Storm Ch. 04

"I'm here now," I soothed. "I'm so sorry I messed everything up and made you worry; I didn't mean to."

"Oh, Joe, you didn't mess anything up. Let's go inside."

I switched off the engine and unfastened my seat belt, Scarlett taking my hand and pulling me from the car into the hallway and through to the kitchen. I opened my mouth to speak, but she shushed me and said, "Joe, I'm so sorry about the way I acted about everything, and especially that I didn't say what I should have said at the time."

"Scarlett, you don't have to apologise for that," I soothed. "I don't expect you to feel the same."

"But I do, Joe," she responded. "I love you too! Do you know why I asked you how you knew?" I shook my head. "Because I told Nicola two days ago that I thought I loved you, and she told me to make sure that it wasn't just infatuation before I said anything to you. What you described to me sounded just like I felt about you, and I wanted to ask Nic about it; I should just have told you, but I was scared to admit it."

"What did Nic say?" I asked.

"She said she knew you loved me; she could tell right away, and when I told her what you said she asked me again about my feelings."

"She's a good friend to you," I smiled. "So... where does that leave us?"

"Let me show you," she whispered. "Let's go upstairs." She took my hand once more and led me into the hallway. As we passed the lounge door, it opened and Brendan and Nicola appeared.

"Everything okay?" Nic asked anxiously.

"They soon will be," Scarlett smiled reassuringly. "Good night, you guys. See you in the morning."

To my surprise, we didn't head to my room, Scarlett leading me instead to the bathroom, closing the door behind us and turning on the taps. Her nimble fingers reached for my tee shirt, peeling it off over my head before kissing me deeply. Breaking the kiss, she peeled off her own shirt, unclasping her bra and letting it fall to the floor. Her jeans followed, after which she knelt in front of me to remove my shoes and socks and reached for the button on my jeans.

Unzipping them, she tugged them slowly to the floor and slid her fingers into the waistband of my boxers. Leaning closer, she placed tender kisses down my happy trail, pulling on my shorts and kissing her way along my cock, which, due to the anxiety I was feeling, was far from hard at that moment. Standing once more, she checked the depth and temperature of the water and turned off the taps.

"Let's get in," she said, bending to remove her panties. She climbed into the bath first and sat back, guiding me by the hand until I was sat with my back pressed against her chest, stroking my hair and wrapping her legs around me.

"Now, baby," she whispered. "I can't tell you how awful I feel for handling things so badly before. I should have told you there and then how I felt and things wouldn't have got so messed up. After what Nic said a couple of days ago, I was worried that we were just infatuated with each other; it's all happened so fast. When I spoke with her again, she said that she'd just wanted me to be sure in my own mind so that I didn't hurt you."

"Oh, Scarlett, if you think we're moving too fast then we can slow things down," I replied anxiously.

"There's no need; I love our relationship exactly the way it is and I don't want things to change. There's no comparison between what I have with you and anything else I've ever felt, and I just know that things are going to get even better, if you can forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive!" I said, turning to kiss her.

"I've got a lot to make up for," she responded, "and I'm going to do just that, tonight and every night. We can do anything you like."

"I just want to hold you, baby girl. I don't need anything else, and you don't have to feel bad or do anything to 'make things up to me'." She fell silent, and I felt a tear land on my shoulder. "What's the matter?" I asked, sitting up and twisting to look at her in concern.

"Nothing," she answered, smiling through her tears. "I'm not upset - I'm just happy, and surprised. When Daniel was upset with me, he'd get me to do things to make it up to him. You just listen to what I have to say, tell me everything is okay and don't ask for anything, even though I've messed up."

"Scarlett, this was a simple misunderstanding; you didn't mess up at all. I'd never ask you to do something for me as some kind of penance, because that's not how healthy relationships work. When we do things together, especially sexual things, it's important to me that you're doing them because you want to, not because you feel you 'owe me' for something."

She pounced on me, kissing me deeply and sloshing water all over the floor. I sat back against the opposite end of the bath in an effort to stop myself toppling, and she climbed into my lap and continued her assault on my mouth. Eventually sliding off me, she reached for the shower gel. "Could I wash you?" she asked.

"That would be amazing!" I smiled. She began by soaping up my chest and arms, massaging me with her hands before getting me to turn around so she could do the same to my back. She finished by taking the sponge and repeatedly soaking and squeezing it to rinse away the suds.

"Thank you, baby girl!" I said.

"Oh, I'm not done," she responded. "Sit on the edge of the tub so I can wash the rest of you." I did as I was asked and she tenderly washed my thighs; starting at my knees, she pushed my legs apart and slowly but surely worked her way higher. I felt myself begin to harden and tried to cover myself with my hands in embarrassment, but Scarlett just brushed them aside. Squirting a copious amount of shower gel into her palms, she reached my cock and began to rub, slowly at first but then harder and faster.

"Baby, that's really arousing. If you keep doing that it might make a mess!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

"That's kind of the idea," she said, picking up her pace even more as she knelt in front of me. "I originally had bigger plans for tonight, but I think we'd better postpone them for another day, and I want to do this."

The slick feeling of her soapy hands was driving me crazy, and when she began to gently massage my balls I knew I wouldn't last much longer. "Baby girl, you need to move; I'm getting close and I don't want to get it all over you!" I panted, clenching my toes to try and delay the approaching orgasm.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "Just relax and let go when you're ready; let me worry about everything else." Her strokes and squeezes intensified, and within seconds I had reached the point of no return.

"Fuck, Scarlett! I'm going to come!" I warned. Rather than backing off as I expected, she leaned her face even closer, closed her eyes and opened her mouth, and I watched in shock and wonder as my orgasm erupted and my seed coated her cheeks, tongue and chin.

I sat there panting, watching her open her eyes and giggle. "How was that?" she smiled.

"Wow," I gasped. "I've never done that before!"

"Me either," she confessed. "Guys have wanted it before, but only as a way to degrade me. I know you'll never do that to me, so I wanted to try it with you; plus, if it felt horrible it would be quick to wash it off in the bath. It doesn't though," she added hurriedly. "It was really hot!"

I took a washcloth and reached down to gently clean her face. "I never want to degrade you," I declared.

"I know, baby. I don't feel degraded; I feel loved and wanted. All I want to do now is to go to bed with you, cuddle up and hold you all night."

I stood and climbed out of the bath, my butt starting to feel numb after perching on the edge of the tub for so long. Kilting myself with a towel, I lifted Scarlett tenderly out of the water, lowering her gently onto the mat and then grabbing another towel to dry her with. Opening the bathroom door to check the coast was clear, we grabbed our clothes and streaked to the bedroom, giggling all the way. We fell into bed kissing, a tangle of limbs as we embraced, and fell asleep almost instantly.

I was awakened once more by my half past six alarm, feeling surprisingly refreshed after relatively little sleep. Realisation dawned that not only did I love the beautiful girl whose head lay on my chest, but that she also loved me, and the smile that formed on my face in that moment proved impossible to lose.

Sliding from Scarlett's embrace, I showered and dressed, once more leaving her to sleep as I went downstairs. I filled the coffee machine and was grabbing myself a mug as Brendan entered the kitchen. "Morning, matey," he smiled.

"Hey, buddy. Sleep well?"

"Not too bad; Nic and I spent quite a while talking about you two. Did you manage to work everything out?"

"Yeah," I responded. "It was just a misunderstanding. Scarlett has told me how she feels."

"Thank fuck. Nic was blaming herself all last night - she said a load of stuff to Scarlett and made her doubt her feelings, and that's basically what caused the whole thing. She struggled to sleep last night, so she might not be up for a while."

"Is she okay? She was just looking out for both Scarlett and me; she's nothing to feel bad about!" I said worriedly. "I wish I'd have known; I could have put her mind at rest before we went to bed!"

"She's fine now; I managed to convince her that she had done the right thing for the right reasons. She thinks a lot of you, and despite her friendship with Scarlett, it was you that she was most worried about."

"I shouldn't have driven off last night," I mumbled guiltily.

"Oi! Don't you start blaming yourself now," Brendan said, glaring at me. "It was just one big misunderstanding and it's all sorted. Now, let's grab a coffee and get cracking on the car - we have the joy of the wiring to start first!"

As I opened the spray booth and flicked on the lights, Brendan gave a wolf-whistle. "Now, that's the best paint job you've ever done, I reckon. It's so good it even makes a Mini look sexy."

I chuckled. "Well, let's get it back together."

We wheeled it back into the main workshop and got busy fitting the new wiring loom and components. Thankfully the classic Mini is a pretty simple machine with very few electrical parts and no fancy gadgets whatsoever, so with the aid of a diagram we had the lighting, instruments and switches in place and hooked up by mid-morning. Fitting the front and rear subframes was also a quick and simple task with the car still on the jig, and thanks to the new floor and panels, the whole thing went together remarkably quickly.

After that, Brendan announced he was hungry and went into the house to see if the girls were awake while I covered the car to protect the new paint from the dust as I swept the workshop. A few moments later I heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps and turned to see Scarlett, dressed in a tee shirt and tracksuit bottoms, launching herself at me. "Good morning, baby!" she squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me a very sloppy kiss. She smelled freshly showered, and I buried my nose in her neck and enjoyed her scent and the feeling of her body against mine.

"Guess what?" she asked.

"What?"

"I love you, baby!" she beamed.

"I love you too!" I responded, giving her another kiss.

"Guess what else?"

"I've no idea," I chuckled as she extricated herself from my grasp.

She darted to the door and looked outside before closing it, then bent over and dropped her tracksuit pants. I noted that she wasn't wearing panties, which made me instantly hard, and then, as she spread her butt cheeks with both hands, I caught a glimpse of something else that I hadn't expected - something small and bulb shaped that protruded from within her crease. "Is that... what I think it is?" I gasped in astonishment.

"Mmm-hmm. It's a butt plug. Actually, it's the middle sized one of a set of three that I bought when Nic and I went shopping the other night. I wore the small one for a bit yesterday, and then I thought I'd see if this one would fit; obviously it does! I thought if I can work up to the biggest one, we might be able to explore doing something else back there soon," she explained, pulling her bottoms back up and giving me a wink. "Plus, maybe I could wear it later on while we have some fun?"

"Ughhhhhh," I slurred, having somehow lost the power of speech.

"I think that's a yes," she giggled. "Anyway, I'm going to go and get properly dressed now; I just wanted to show you that before I did."

"You know there's no need to rush into butt stuff, right?" I said. "I mean, yeah, I'd love to do that, but we can take our time."

"Oh, baby," she whispered. "It's my last virgin hole, and I want to give it to the man I love just as soon as possible. If I could, I'd let you take it right here and now, but I want to make sure I'm ready. Now, Nic is making breakfast so I'd better get changed and take it out, but I really want to do some sexy things with you later, and it might feature again then if you want!" After giving me another kiss, she turned and went back inside, flashing me her delectable butt once more when she was half-way along the driveway.

I waited for a few minutes to allow my erection to fade before following her inside. Nicola was once more engaged in cooking breakfast, this time making everyone a sausage and cheese omelette, and she turned as I entered and gave me a giant hug. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Great, thanks, Nic!" I answered, giving her a warm smile. "How about you?"

"Much better, now that I know that you and Scarlett are okay."

"We're so much better than okay!" I responded. "I'm very glad that we both have a friend like you."

"Awww," she blushed. "Go and sit down; I get the impression that you'll need your strength today!"

My jaw dropped open and there was a girlish giggle from the doorway as Scarlett walked in. "What did you tell her?" I whispered as she took the seat next to me.

"Nothing, but who do you think I got all of my sex tips from?" she replied. "It's not hard to work out that we're going to be doing something tonight!"

"True," I chuckled, "but I never count my chickens. You can always change your mind and I won't be upset. Now, shall we go and work on the Mini?"

She nodded eagerly. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can finish!"

The four of us returned to the workshop and I pulled the cover off the Mini. "Fuck! That looks brand new!" Nicola exclaimed.

"Is that my Mini? I don't think it's ever looked that good!" Scarlett added.

"Yep, it's yours! I take it you approve?" I asked.

"Hell yes. I love that shade of blue too - a bit darker than it used to be, and it really suits the car!" she beamed. "So, where do we start?"

"Well, there's still a lot to do; Bren and I need to run new brake and fuel lines, and the glass needs to go back in next, I think!" I explained. Brendan offered to show the girls how to install the windows in the time-honoured fashion, which involved the use of string and multiple cuss words, leaving me to roll around on the floor, clipping pipework in place, connecting hoses and cables and installing brake components. Scarlett and Nic then got to work on the interior while I enlisted Brendan's help to install the engine and gearbox. By the time early evening rolled around, we were in good shape, with the car almost ready to come off the jig and back on its wheels.

"I can't wait to see it finished," Scarlett smiled as we all stood back and admired our handiwork. "How much is left to do?"

"Well, I've got the wheels painted, so the first job tomorrow is to get new tyres on them, then we can put them on the car and get it on the ground. After that, it's a case of putting on doors, bonnet, boot, chromework and putting some fuel in," I explained. "All being well, it will be done by lunchtime, and we'll be able to take a quick test run before dinner."

"When did you start working on it, Joe?" Brendan asked.

"First thing on Monday morning."

"Five days has got to be a record, buddy. You've done well!" he said, clapping me on the back.

"We all have. Without everyone's help, I'd still be welding bits on!" I chuckled. "Now, what would people like for dinner? I'm afraid that after feeding four instead of one all week, my cupboard is getting rather bare. I'll have to do a grocery shop tomorrow."

"KFC or something?" Nic suggested. "My treat!"

"Yum!" Scarlett said. "I've not had Kentucky in ages!" Brendan and I looked at each other; neither of us was a big fan of junk food, but we knew when we were beaten!

After the four of us had consumed the content of a Family Feast bucket and tidied up, the girls excused themselves, saying that they had something to take care of; Brendan and I both opened a beer each and sat back in the comfort of the lounge.

"So how are you and Nic getting on?" I asked.

"Well, it's early days, but so far it's already the best relationship I've ever had. We seem to have a lot in common, and we've talked more about stuff that actually matters than I have with anyone I've ever been out with before."

"Yeah, she seems like a really nice girl; the two of you should be well suited. Just from a few comments she's passed, I get the impression that she's had a few boyfriends in the past but hasn't been treated all that well," I commented.

"That's pretty accurate," Brendan agreed. "We've talked a lot about stuff like that. I liked her from the first day we met, and I asked her if she was just looking for something casual, a 'friends with benefits' type of thing or a relationship, and she said she didn't know. I sort of played it cool for a bit, but then last night, after you'd come back, we talked a lot more. Guys tend to do what they want with her and just fuck off to the next girl, and she just decided that she wasn't worthy of a proper relationship or some shit like that."

"That's fucking awful!" I said in dismay.

"Exactly. So, right there and then, I asked her to be my girlfriend, and she said she'd think about it. As far as I know, she's still thinking."

"Ah. So, how are you feeling?"

"A bit anxious - but she's still been her usual flirty self today, and she's still here... I don't know though."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you're really good for each other," I smiled. "I'm sure things will work out."

Just then, my phone vibrated to let me know that I'd got a text. A few seconds later, Brendan received a similar signal.

"Nic wants me," he said. "Better go upstairs."

"Okay buddy. Try not to worry," I answered, and checked my own phone. Scarlett was also requesting the presence of my company in our room.

I opened the door to find Scarlett lying on the bed, dressed in black hold-up stockings, a lace thong and a transparent babydoll, and I'm sure my jaw hit the floor.

"Hi baby," she whispered. "I take it you approve?" I could only nod. "I'm glad about that," she giggled. "How about you get naked and get over here?"

I didn't need to be asked twice! I undressed hurriedly, pulling off my sweater and tee shirt together and fumbling at the tangle that my jeans and boxers formed around my ankles. I was definitely more eager than graceful! Finally rid of the restriction, I leapt onto the bed and crawled up next to Scarlett, falling into her outstretched arms and enjoying the feeling as her lips pressed to mine and her tongue sneaked into my mouth.

Embracing her, my hands slid up her thighs and over her taut butt, beneath her babydoll to stroke the bare skin of her back. Her nimble fingers reached for my cock, teasing it with featherlight touches, making my entire lower body tingle with anticipation. My right hand slid round to caress her breasts through the fabric as our kissing grew deeper and more passionate, while my left slid lower, under the waistband of her panties to squeeze the firm but pliant cheeks of her butt.