Chapter 3

I supported myself on my hands and saw her special coy smile shining at me. The one that showed me how pleased she was with me.

I kissed her softly.

“You are wild, baby girl.”

I chuckled and kissed her sweetly. She chased my mouth again. I forced myself to stand up and root around the grass, looking for my shirt and bra. Her hands traipsed over the backs of my thighs and ass while my center throbbed in response.

She turned me around by my hips and dug her tongue in my pussy while she caressed my thighs. She stroked my clit, building me up slowly and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I pressed her head harder into my groin until she sucked on me.

“Oh, fuck!” I felt a little irreverent, cussing in this beautiful place, but…there really was no better response to her ministrations.

I gripped her shoulders so I wouldn’t topple over as I neared my orgasm. I twitched and pitched forward erratically but she kept me escalating, pulling at my ass cheeks.

I seized with a cry and pulled her by her ponytail, holding her face against my belly for a second as I caught my breath. I slid down and laughed in her face.

“That was fun! I was just expecting a quickie fingering! You keep surprising me, darling…”

She kissed me and handed back the shirt and bra she’d wrenched out of my hands.

We dressed with small kisses here and there and sat cross legged next to each other, finally digging in to the food.

“Mor, you forgot the nuts and the olives.”

“Damn! I thought I got everything!”

I handed her her glass of rosé.

“So close!” She shook her head, seemingly disappointed. “So close to haute cuisine, only to forget the olives. She tsked and spread cheese over a cracker.

I bumped her shoulder and she bumped me back.

The sun was setting and everything turned orange and then red.

After some more chatting, I finally asked. “What’s going on at work, babe?”

She sighed out roughly. “They are…making some changes in upper management at the company.”

“So, maybe my job?” She said it as a question.

“Wow! I never thought it would come to that…”

“It’s business…It’s not personal…if they think they can get someone younger, eager to please, and with a smaller paycheck, then they will.”

“That’s dumb…the reason you’re compensated is because you produce revenue…”

“It’s not that straightforward always and, in this situation, I could end up either on top or…I could get stabbed in the back…maybe ‘axed’ might be a more correct term.”

“By when will they make the changes?”

“There’s a new guy starting on Monday and I have no idea what they hired him for…there’s rumors but I don’t know if I can trust them…”

“Well, nothing’s sure, right?”

She hummed in assent.

“And there’s nothing you can do until Monday?”

“No…just pretend to look surprised when something horrible happens!” She exclaimed dramatically.

I sat behind her and circled my hands loosely around her front while she munched on cheese.

I kissed her neck and whispered in her ear.

“Nothing bad is going to happen. You might even get the VP job…”

“They’ve passed me for that two times, already.”

“Then good riddance! Maybe right now is the perfect time to bow out.”

She froze in my arms.

“Yeah, like if things don’t shake out the way you want them to, just leverage you leaving and if they don’t meet your requests, quit.”

She was still frozen and I wondered if I’d overstepped.

“And what? Not work? I need to work, Mor…”

“Well, yeah…but you are so qualified in what you do…just…go to a better company that will appreciate you better.”

“I’ve worked there for fifteen years…” She floated a cracker with cheese and pears in front of my face and I took it from her in my mouth.

“Like you said…it’s not personal…” I said around the cracker.

“And you know…you can do whatever you want…start a new business, find the perfect job you enjoy, even go back to school if you wanted. My royalties are more than enough and you have savings too.”

“I don’t need you to support me…” She whispered.

“I know you don’t, but it’s nice to have a back up…besides, you helped me when my first book wasn’t getting sold. Maybe now it’s my turn for a little bit.”

She hummed noncommittally and leaned back on my chest.

The sun was finally dipping into the horizon and the bright orange orb shone stubbornly as it fell asleep.

“You are worth your weight in gold, love. And then some. Don’t settle for anything less than what you absolutely deserve.” I kissed her temple. “Because of your genius.” My palm rested warmly over her chest. “And your heart.”

“You’re sweet…Today was gorgeous. It settled my brain a little.”

“Good! Happy to hear that!”

“And I’ll think about what you said…”

“Okay. Well! I’m always here if you just want me to listen. I can zip it if you don’t want solutions.”

She narrowed her eyes at me from where she was resting on my chest.

“Have you been reading relationship advice articles again?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because you always come back with wise one-liners like ‘tell me if you only want me to listen and not offer solutions.'” She let her voice drop while I harrumphed.

“I may have listened to a podcast about how to understand each other if you have different communication styles, yes…”

She chuckled and pecked the bottom of my jaw.

“You’re cute…Thank you, Mor. Let’s see what happens on Monday, okay?”

“Okay.” I breathed deeply.

She shifted to kiss me sweetly and the honey stuck to my lips. I licked her lips clean of the sticky sweetness and then my own.

“Are you still up to going to the gallery opening Jesse’s having tomorrow?” I asked softly.

“Yes, we have to. This one is a big one.”

“Hmm…Let’s start packing up before we meet a bear, eh?”

“Omigawd! We could’ve gotten attacked by a bear? While we were naked?!”

“No, no…highly improbable. Besides you would have scared him off with your screams.”

She punched my ribs but started to help me put everything away.

We walked back to the car and I packed all the stuff away. I came around the car to find her sitting on the hood. She wasn’t looking at me, so I took my camera from the backseat to snap some better pictures of her. I fine-tuned the settings quietly and got the perfect shot.

I took a picture of her profile against the darkening blue sky and then of the whole car with her on the hood. Finally, I rounded the corner to take one head-on and she finally spotted me.

“What are you doing?”

“Making my own personal pin-up poster.” I snapped another picture while she smiled.

“Oh, really? Let me help you then.”

She took off her hair band and fluffed up her red waves. She let the jacket pool at her elbows and bent a knee to showcase her legs.

“Like this?” She asked softly.

I took picture after picture and she tossed her jacket in the open top of the car. She looked around and took off her tank and bra. I took pictures of her movements. She took off her shorts and the only thing she was wearing was her black seamless underwear.

She opened her legs and put her hands daintily on her thighs.

“How about…this.?”

“Can you put your hand over your breast and the other running down your neck?

She complied and I took a few angles.

“Now your hands in your hair?

“Great! Amazing! Okay! One hand pulling your thigh open and the other about to dip into your underwear.

She complied again and her face burned with arousal. I hoped to god I was able to capture that fire in her eyes in the photo.

“How are you so fucking hot?” I hissed.

She sidled down the hood and straddled my hips.

I ran my palms along her back. We heard a car zooming on the road nearby and she panicked, dropping onto the ground and looking for her clothes.

I knelt and held her shorts open for her while she gripped my shoulders. She stared down at me and I couldn’t wait to get on my computer to edit those sexy pictures. She handed me her socks and shoes and leaned against my black car. I slipped a sock on and she placed her foot on my chest, pushing as I pushed lightly back, matching her force. I looked for direction but she was just toying with me. She let me finish putting her shoes on her and brought me up for a kiss. I could hear the crickets now in the gloom and an odd toad here and there.

“I kind of feel like a teenager…” She spoke softly.

“Like stealing away without our parent’s permission?”

“Yes, exactly. Today was just so easy out here…so light.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I came to the conclusion that it was Edenic.“

“Hmm…because we were naked?” She teased.

“Yes, but it also felt easy…Like you said, a type of paradise.”

She squished my mouth.

“If you EVER share those pictures with another living soul, I will end you. Got it?”

I squeaked in assent.

“That includes Jesse…” Jesse was my best friend and she knew I shared everything with him. She let go of my mouth and I stretched my jaw.

She kissed me and went to sit in the passenger seat.

“What are you doing with those pictures, any way?” She caressed my forearm while I drove us to the main road.

“I told you! I’m making pin-up posters. I’ll set them up in my closet where it’s private.”

“You’re such a teenage boy.” She pulled me in by my chin and kissed me.

The car hit the asphalt of the main road and I wrenched out of her grip to right the car. I shook my head and made a u-turn, realizing we were going the wrong way.

“I’m taking a shower, Mor!” She shouted as she weaved through our place.

I eagerly sat at my computer and sent over the raw images of Suzie on the hood of my car. Each image already had lovely blue overtones that caressed the side of her curves. There was one that was slightly purple. All in all, there were so many possibilities that flooded my brain. Neon lettering, harsh comic book movement. Or maybe do it up slinky, like a Jessica Rabbit meets Tokyo Drift. Oh, fuck…That would be hot…

“Mor, where on earth…oh! There you are! What are you–“

She froze as she saw all the poses I’d taken in the twilight, plastered all over my multiple screens. She fixated on one of her with open legs, reaching into her underwear.

“You made me look really sexy!”

“I haven’t done anything yet, just brainstorming for now…”

“Come on! Be serious!…Wait, really?”

“Yeah! This is all you, right now…

I stood up to admire the pictures up close as well.

“I like this one.” I pointed to her in profile and her hair waving behind her.

“Ooh, yeah! Those belong on some mudflaps!” She was having fun now.

“Hot! I’ll put them on my jeep.”

“You look like you’re going to have fun on this one…”

I sat down and she ran a hand across my shoulders.

“Come to bed, Mor…”

“Okay, one second! I’m just going to clean up the background to this one real quick.”

“What, babe?” I was brushing away unnecessary texture near the edges.

I looked at her in the doorway and she was naked. Her silhouette definitely was nicer than what was on my screen. I could feel her flesh under my fingers from memory.

“Are you going to stay? Playing on your computer? Or are you joining me in the bedroom?”

It clicked finally. Sex now or never sex.

“Sex now, then!” I scrambled after her and she ran up the few steps to our bedroom. I grabbed her at her waist and mouthed at her shoulder. “How could I be so dense?”

She giggled as she flopped face down on the bed, our legs dangling to the floor.

“24-hour rule remember?” She was muffled against the duvet.

“Right! I absolutely must touch you now.” My palms ran up her back and down her arms.