Chapter 7

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I felt responsible for this. I should have never pursued a relationship with her.”

“I’m so sorry, Monica.” I whispered. “It’s all my fault.” I laid next to her and draped my arm over her burying my face against her shoulder. I couldn’t fight back the tears as I came to the realization that I had most likely ruined her life.

“No, Steph. No. This is not on you. This was going to happen regardless of when I told them. Maybe one day things will change, but that church has poisoned their minds. Please, don’t think that you had anything to do with this.”

Monica rolled over to face me, bringing her hands up to cradle my face. She rolled my head up so that we were staring into each others eyes, then gently placed a kiss on my lips.

“Please don’t blame yourself, ok?”

“I’m going to let you get settled in. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

I wiped my eyes before leaving the spare bedroom. Paul looked up as I was walking down the stairs and asked if everything was alright. I told him that Monica just filled me in on what had happened and that it was horrible. He asked what happened and I paused before explaining that it really wasn’t my story to tell. He just had to trust me that what they did was unforgivable.

“I’m going to guess that they found out she was gay?”

Paul had guessed right, but how did he know? Oh my god… he didn’t know about us did he?

“Uh, yeah. How did you come to that conclusion?”

“I know a couple guys that work with her dad. They say he’s a huge religious nut. I heard stories about the church they attend and the things they supposedly do. I wasn’t sure I believed it or not.”

“It’s true. They are truly horrible people.”

“They are disgusting. Treating their own daughter that way? I’d like to go treat him a certain way.”

“It wouldn’t do any good.”

“I know, it’s just so frustrating.”

Wow! I’d never known my husband to be such a supporter of people’s sexuality. I knew he wasn’t homophobic or anything, but it wasn’t a conversation we had very often. We had both agreed that we’d love our daughter regardless of who she loved, but seeing him this angry about it was new to me.

Later that night, Rachel came home and inquired about Monica’s car being parked out front. I told her that she was in the spare bedroom and that she should go talk to her. Rachel rushed upstairs and we didn’t see either one of them the rest of the night.

I tossed and turned in bed that night. I couldn’t get comfortable and my mind kept racing. It was driving me crazy knowing that Monica was just a few steps away in another room. I wanted to be in that bed with her so bad, comforting her, holding her close, but after everything going on with her parents, that would be so wrong. Plus, I still felt responsible for what had happened. That wasn’t helping put my mind at ease either.

After about 3 hours of restlessness, I slid out of bed, draped my favorite soft, fluffy blanket over my shoulders, and tip toed down the hall. I quietly eased the spare bedroom door open and peered inside. I could see her curled up under the sheets. Her back was to the door and I could faintly hear her breathing.

As I stood there watching her, I thought back to how this had all started. It seemed so long ago, but in reality it hadn’t been very long at all. Things seemed so much simpler then. We’d meet up for a little romp in bed a few times a week, spend some time cuddling, and everything was great.

Things quickly got out of hand though. It felt like we had experienced several close calls where we would have been caught in our little affair. We probably should have just ended it then, but my attraction to her was so strong that I couldn’t bring myself to quit her. Then, we actually did get caught, and now she was bearing the full consequences, when I was the one being unfaithful. Her suffering was on me. Yet she failed to blame me for what had happened.

I hated to realize that what we had was most likely over. She was in a bad place now, and needed support more than anything. It was going to be extremely difficult to have her living here with me and not touching her though.

Monica slept in late the next morning. I made her breakfast when she woke up then helped her bring the rest of her stuff in from her car. We had hid her car in the garage last night in case her parents were out looking for her, but I had a feeling that they most likely weren’t.

I had work to do, which was also my excuse to distract myself from Monica. I assumed she was going to spend the day buried under blankets in bed, because if I had gone through this at her age, that’s what I would have done. However, she surprised me. To give you an idea of how determined this young woman was, Monica remotely attended her classes for the day and spent the time between classes on other course work. She was determined to not let this get in the way. I hoped that all her hard work wouldn’t be sidelined by her parents no longer willing to pay for her education.

Monica and Rachel had spent a lot of time together this week, with Monica riding to university with Rachel and the two girls staying up and doing homework together. Knowing that Monica had a distraction made me feel better, plus it helped to distract me from my desire for her.

I’m not saying the distraction was total success though. I still thought about her constantly. I kept telling myself that this was for the best and that it was the right thing to do. The worst times were at night, when I had nothing to do but lay in bed and think about her, how she was just a few doors down the hall from me. Resisting the urge to sneak down and cuddle up next to her was so difficult.

I could tell that Paul was sound asleep so I slipped out of bed and pulled my blanket over my shoulders and, thinking a snack might help, I made my way to the kitchen.

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the kitchen was the flickering of flames through the window of the back door. I walked over and saw that the door was ajar and wondered what was going on. I knew Rachel wasn’t home and Monica’s door was shut when I walked past. I eased the door open and cautiously looked around. I didn’t see anyone hiding in the mud room, so I crept through and over to the door that led out to the patio.

There was a fire blazing in the fire pit and I could make out a figure in one of the Adirondack chairs that circled the pit. Once I moved closer to the door, I could see the light from the fire dancing off of beautiful red hair. I opened the door, making sure to be quiet as to not wake up anyone else, and stepped out onto the patio.

“Hey.” she spoke softly, her eyes fixed on the fire.

I sat in the chair next to her, making sure my naked butt stayed covered by the huge blanket I had wrapped around myself. I kept a similar blanket in the spare bedroom and I noticed that Monica was wrapped in it. The weather was getting cooler at night but the fire was keeping me plenty warm.

“Having a hard time sleeping?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Just have some things on my mind.”

“Yeah. I’m sure you do. Want to talk about them?”

Monica’s hand reached out from under the blanket and brought a rocks glass filled with brown liquid to her lips.

“I…I don’t know.” Her gaze never veered from the flickering of the fire.

So we sat, in silence, for several minutes. I tried to focus on the fire instead of sitting there staring at her, but she was just so achingly beautiful. Her eyes darted my direction but she quickly diverted them away. She took a deep breath and turned her focus back to the fire. A few more minutes of silence passed and I was beginning to think that I should go back inside and leave her to her thoughts. I was just getting ready to stand when she spoke.

She sighed before continuing, “I’ve been here almost a week now.”

“So why haven’t…why haven’t we, uhm…do you not want me anymore?”

“What? Monica, I…I…I mean, no. It’s not that, it’s just that….”

“Then why…why haven’t we been together?”

“I… I don’t know. I just wanted to give you space, and…”

“I don’t need space. I need you. I miss you. I think I’m going to die if I don’t have you.”

I stood from my chair and stepped over in front of Monica. I knelt down in front of her, making sure my knees rested on my blanket and not the hard pavers. Also making sure I didn’t drag my blanket through the fire. Holding my blanket closed with one hand, I wormed my other arm through an opening and placed it on her knee. I looked into Monica’s eyes and could see the hurt she was feeling. The sight of her pain made my heart sink, knowing that I was responsible. Yet, despite her pain, I saw the familiar glimmer in her eye that I had seen many times.

And even though it felt as if I was slowly killing myself, I had tried so hard to put my feelings for her aside to prevent myself from causing her any more strife. But it only took that tiny glimmer to totally erode the walls I had built up around myself.

“I miss you too, believe me. Thoughts of you consume me, even in my sleep. It’s just…your life has been in turmoil ever since you met me. You’ve been kicked out of your home, your parents want nothing to do with you, your education is in jeopardy…plus you have to deal with me and my paranoia about sneaking around…I just feel like I’m bad for you and…”

“I’m a big girl, Steph, and can make my own choices.” Monica interrupted

“I know. I can’t help but feel guilty though.”

“Well stop it. You might think you’ve ruined things, but I want to tell you that you’ve helped me. I’m free now. My secret is out, which is a huge weight lifted from me. Sure, it didn’t happen how I had planned it, but I can’t tell you how relieved I am to not have to carry that burden any more. I can finally be myself. I’ll figure the rest out, but I willingly entered into this, aware of the consequences.”

Monica’s arm reached out from under the blanket again and took another sip from the glass it held. After swallowing, she leaned forward and set the glass on the ground. Our faces were inches apart. It had been far too long since I was this close to her. Her luscious lips were wet from the liquor she had just drank, and her beautiful red hair glowed from the dancing fire reflecting off of it. There was no way my will power could have held out any longer.

I closed the short distance between us and brushed my lips against hers. She let out a faint whimper as her eyes closed and her lips pressed into mine. The bourbon on her tongue was delightful, and I needed to taste more. I brought my hand up from her knee and placed it on the back of her neck, holding her lips against mine as my tongue danced against hers.

I couldn’t believe that I had spent the last week trying to be noble instead spending every moment we had alone as a tangled mass of flesh. I was such a fool.

Just as I was thinking I’d rather suffocate than have my lips leave Monica’s, she pulled away and held her arm out to keep me at a distance.

“I hope you don’t think this makes us okay?”

I swallowed, prepared to accept whatever it was I had coming.

With the same arm, she quickly swung the plush blanket open, exposing her perfect nude body underneath. Wetness flooded my nether region at the sight of her.

Monica scooted forward in the Adirondack chair and brought her hand to the back of my head, sinking her fingers into my hair and gripping it. She leaned in close to me and said,

“I’ve spent every night this past week, hoping you’d sneak into my room and slip into bed with me. I’ve missed you so much it hurt. I also haven’t came this entire time. Please, pardon my bluntness my love, but I need you to eat my pussy.”

There was no time to respond as Monica reclined back into the chair and used her hand to guide my face between her spread legs. Her ass was right on the edge of the seat, perched at the perfect height for me to devour her. Her delicate folds glistened with wetness and the scent of her arousal drew me in like a siren at sea.

I slowly swiped my flattened tongue from the bottom of her entrance up to her swollen little clit. She inhaled sharply as I swirled around her tiny nub, simultaneously pressing my face into her sopping wet center. Making love would come later, right now she needed fucked. I lapped and sucked on her delicious pussy with drunken vigor, while she writhed in pleasure in her seat, her hand still gripping my hair.