It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Laurie O'Donnell stepped off the bus and underneath the bus stop shelter long enough to pull her umbrella out of her backpack. She ran up the block to her apartment complex, but it was because of the rain, not any urgency to be home. Her boyfriend Rick was going to be late at the law school library again; between his classes and his new clerkship at the state courthouse, she only ever saw him for a few minutes in the morning. She was finding herself getting used to evenings of leftovers, a little homework, and then falling asleep in front of the TV.

On top of all that, she had found herself feeling uncharacteristically horny all day. It wasn't her period, and Laurie usually had no problem saving those kinds of thoughts for Rick, but she had found herself looking at random guys in class and hoping one of them would rip her clothes off and bend her over. She had even caught herself fantasizing about her biology professor, and he was pushing sixty. Maybe I'll just take a long bath and then pull out my vibrator, Laurie thought as she hurried down the sidewalk. I think it's at the back of my sock drawer.

She arrived at the apartment building and passed by Katie Lang stepping into her place carrying a handful of mail. She had moved into the apartment down the way at the beginning of fall term, and the two of them had chatted a little while doing laundry or crossing paths in the complex; Laurie had even had her and her husband over to dinner on one of the rare nights that Rick was home. She couldn't say she knew Katie well, but Laurie still admired her. Not only was she outspoken and funny, but she was gorgeous: red hair with alabaster skin and perfectly shaped legs that she regularly showed off with her short skirts. None of their conversations had ever grown more personal than classes or their favorite movies, but there were a few times when Laurie looked into Katie's aqualine green eyes and thought she had seen a yearning, an inquisitiveness, a passion that had so far remained entirely unspoken.

Maybe we ought to invite her back over to dinner one of these times, Laurie thought as she unlocked her dead bolt. She had barely had time to close the door and slip out of her coat when the doorbell rang.

She opened the door. *Study group's not tonight, is it?* she wondered.

Katie was standing there, huddled underneath the awning. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pleated Catholic girls' skirt without nylons. Her arms were folded tight and she was trying to keep warm.

"You're late," Katie said. "Where have you been?"

Laurie was confused. "Well, I missed my bus. Were we supposed to do something?"

"Hel-lo. Tonight's the night when we..." She gestures with her hand "Remember?"

"That was tonight? I thought it was next week."

"No, it's tonight. When you're feeling horny and your boyfriend's gone?"

"I'm sorry. My boyfriend's gone every night. It must have slipped my mind. Come in, come in."

Katie had barely closed the door behind when Laurie reached for her waist and pulled her close.

"Woah, woah, woah," Katie said, pushing her back. "You are new at this, aren't you? We're supposed to talk a little first. Bluth will never this story published if we start going at it on the first page."

"Published?" Laurie asked. "I thought that these kinds of things only wound up on erotica web pages."

"Well, he's not sure what he'll do with it, but even erotica has a basic structure. Let's sit down." Katie crossed over to the couch as Laurie walked back into the kitchen.

"Are we supposed to drink wine or something like that? I think there's some red in here."

"Naw," Katie replied. "Actually, I'd kill for a beer right now. Got anything?"

Laurie reached into the fridge for one of Rick's cans of PBR. "So the guy writing this is named Bluth?"

"Yeah, Bluth. Rhymes with 'Ruth'."

"Does he write this sort of thing?"

"Actually, he mainly does poetry. He's had some things published in little magazines, plus some record reviews here and there. Nothing big."

"So he's never done this sort of thing before?"

"No, but I think it'll turn out okay. You can tell from our dialogue that he knows how to form a coherent sentence. We could have wound up with a lot worse."

Laurie walked back into the living room and handed Katie the can before sitting down next to her on the couch. Katie pulled back the tab and took a long swig.

"So," Laurie asked. "Should I put some some music on? There's some jazz and some Ani DiFranco"

"Mmmg," Katie answered as she swallowed and set the beer on the coffee table. "You can if you want. Frankly, I usually just tune out whatever's around me once I get going."

"That's alright. So how is this going to work?"

"Well, basically, we'll kiss a little here and then I'll nuzzle you for a bit. Then I'll unbutton your blouse and start sucking on your tits. After a little bit of that, we'll go into the bedroom. You have a problem with oral sex?"

"No. It's tough to get Rick to do it, actually."

"Good, that'll play in well with the she-was-better-than-my-boring-old-boyfriend angle. Do you come a lot when you orgasm?"

"I guess."

"That's good, too, because these stories love it when we gush. If you could be explosive about it, that'd help. Run your fingers through my hair after you come and kiss me hard."

Laurie reached over to the beer and took a sip. "I'm still confused. If we know what we're going to do, then why do have to to sit and talk first."

Katie sighed. "To fill space, really. A lot of female-centered erotica makes a big show about how deeply our emotions run, so we're supposed to spend time being coy and slowly admitting to how we've always felt before we finally get down to it. A lot of the websites insist that these aren't stroke stories, but I think that's bull. Would anybody read these things if the lonely businesswoman and the hunky bartender just flirted, said 'goodbye', and that was it?"

"I see," Laurie said. She reached over, took Katie's hand, and started to stroke it with her thumb. "Have we talked enough yet?"

"I can tell you were written by a man," Katie chuckled. "You definitely have that whole cut-to-the-chase mentality. I hear that's how gay guys go about it. No real foreplay, no talk, just in and out." She took the can from Laurie and drained the last of the beer from it. "I almost forgot. What kind of underwear are you wearing?'"

"I don't know. My normal kind?"

"Are they granny panties?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"That won't work. Do you have a thong?"

"No. I have these purple bikini things Rick bought me last Valentine's Day."

"Go change into those. And put your jeans back on, too. Me pulling them off you is supposed to be a big deal."

Laurie got up and went into the bedroom. "Do you mind if I smoke?" Katie asked.

"No, go ahead."

Katie pulled her pack and lighter out of her pocket. She had gotten a few drags out when Laurie returned to her place on the couch. Katie slid the butt through the hole on the can. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Well, I think we've gone on for long enough," Katie said. "You ready?"

Laurie nodded. She could see that Katie wasn't wearing a bra; her erect nipples were jutting against her t-shirt. Katie reached her hand around Laurie's neck and pulled her in.

"Remember, think soft, and don't rush. We've got plenty of time."

Since Katie had told Laurie what was going to happen in the living room, they were able to cut right to the bedroom. With Laurie lying back on her bed, Katie suckled her breasts (first right, then left), then began to work her way down Laurie's side and down over her flat, taut stomach. When her lips reached the rim of Laurie's waist, Katie reached up, unbuttoned the jeans and pulled them off and onto the floor. She nuzzled her way back up Laurie's leg and up to her crotch. Katie then began to lick Laurie's pussy through the purple underwear. Laurie's entire body buckled.

"That tickles!"

"Shhh," Katie replied as she stood up and pulled her t-shirt over her head in one swift movement. In contrast to Laurie's darker red nipples, Katie's were a light-pink color that made Laurie think of seashells. Katie then bent over Laurie and began to rub her breasts all up and down her body, stopping to kiss when she reached Laurie's face. She then lifted her own left breast and held it before Laurie's mouth.

"Suck on it. Don't bite."

Laurie took the breast in her hands and slid the nipple inbetween her lips, sucking in even motions. Katie gasped and felt herself starting to go wet. *This might go alright after all*, she thought.

After a minute of this, Katie pulled herself free and crouched back down before Laurie's cunt. Looping her thumbs through the waistband, Katie pulled the panties away and rolled them down off over her legs.

"I'm going to eat you out again. Just breathe. You're doing fine."

Parting her lips with her fingertips, Katie began licking at the folds in smooth, even motions. She could taste Laurie's juices begin to flow, and she could hear her moaning. Katie quickly found the clit and took it inbetween the gap in her teeth. Laurie spasmed.

Katie looked up. "You can't come quite yet. Try and draw it out. Waves of bliss. Just keep saying that to yourself."

Laurie wasn't sure what that was supposed to do, but she went ahead and repeated it in her head: *Waves of bliss, waves of bliss, waves of bliss.* Sure enough, Laurie could feel her orgasm slowing down and stretching out as Katie continued sucking at her clit. Her gasps grew closer together as she continued to build; closer together, closer together until she let out one long moan and she finally exploded into Katie's waiting mouth. Spasms erupted down her body as Katie continued to lick her snatch clean. Laurie's chest heaved for breath as her body finally came to rest. Katie then turned her head and began to nibble at her inner thigh, but Laurie sat up, reached underneath, grabbed Katie's arms, and pulled her body up until they were eye-level.

Laurie grabbed Katie's chin and pulled her lips to hers. They kissed: softly at first, but within seconds their tongues were twirling around in each other's mouths. Katie had been right. Laurie had just come harder than she ever had with Rick. She pulled away from Katie's mouth and began nuzzling at her ear.

"Do you think we could turn this into a novel?" Laurie whispered.

Katie laughed, then turned Laurie's lips back to hers. They kissed for a moment as Laurie pulled her down onto the bed. Laurie tilted her head to nuzzle Katie's ear.

"I'm serious," she said. "I wasn't just being rhetorical. Can we?"

Katie gently twisted her head away from Laurie's mouth, then reached up to stroke her hair.

"Bluth isn't anywhere near ready to start a novel," Katie answered. "And even if he was, he certainly wouldn't spend all that time and energy on us. Besides, what are we supposed to do? Fuck for two hundred pages?"

"No, no. That was great just now, and you're great, but that's what I mean. Something real, not just the sex stuff. Something about us."

"Then we'd have to deal with your boyfriend and my husband and decide if we keep this secret or not. Plus I was molested when I was a kid. Trust me, there's a reason these stories end when they do."

Laurie lifted herself up on her elbow and turned her body so that her back now faced Katie's chest. She snuggled back and let Katie's body spoon hers.

"So this is it?"

Katie reached up her hand and set it on Laurie's right shoulder.

"Yes."

They lay still for a moment or so.

"Mono no aware," Laurie said.

"What's that?"

"Mono no aware. It's Japanese. It means feeling peacefully sad when you realize that everything passes."

"That's lovely."

"We were talking about it in film class last week."

Katie placed a single kiss on the back of her neck. "I'm sorry."

Laurie reached up to her shoulder and pulled Katie's hand over to her lips. She kissed each finger, one by one...