Chapter 3
I took a shower, towelling my hair dry and dressing in tee shirt and shorts, before waking Heather in the morning. "Time to wake up, sleepyhead," I said.
Her auburn waves were twisted and damp, and her eyes seemed unfocused, but she slowly came to her senses. Then she smiled. "You're still here," she said.
"Of course I am," I retorted. "It's Friday. I'm skipping. I can make up classes. I want to be sure you're okay to get everything taken care of. Can you skip?"
She frowned for a moment. "Yeah. And I need to be unpacking my boxes and figuring out how to get the rest of my stuff. You don't need to leave right away, do you?"
I shook my head.
"Wait for me to get a shower, then."
I nodded, then lay back down on the bed. After a few minutes, I dozed off. I hadn't been the target of the previous night's unpleasantness, but it had still been stressful, and I hadn't gotten to bed until after three.
I awoke to a finger drawing circles on my belly, and Heather's face looking down at me from a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Her hair was damp, but no longer tangled, and formed a deep red triangular frame around her face. She'd changed back into her nightgown after showering. I smiled at her.
"Thanks for staying with me, Margot," Heather said. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," I said, meaning it.
The finger moved, sliding up my body. It lightly circled my right breast, then spiralled inward, lightly grazing my nipple. "Is this okay?"
"It feels good, if that's what you're asking," I said.
"I think I'm asking, 'Do you mind if I do this?'" she replied.
I paused for a second before replying. "No, I don't mind," I answered.
"I want to kiss you," Heather said.
Again, I didn't reply immediately. It wasn't that I didn't want to get close to her, and it wasn't that I thought it would be wrong. It was that I didn't think she knew me. I thought she'd built up a fantasy girl who would never hurt her. A girl whom she could trust, when she'd been left stranded by so many. By her first lover, even if that was expected. By her girlfriend at church. By her roommates, and by her former religious group.
In the end I could only reply honestly. "Heather, I don't think I'm who you need."
Her fingers had spread out over my breast, caressing gently. At my words they stopped, and I saw some of the defiance she showed her wicked stepsister roomies. "I don't care. I don't want you to be anyone for my sake. I want to kiss you."
My heart sank in resignation, even as my desire for her surged. "Okay," I said, holding out my arms to her.
Heather climbed onto the bed, then sank into my arms, her body along mine. I felt the soft pressure as her chest closed on mine, then the brush of her lips against mine. My own lips parted without thought on my part, and hers fitted themselves to mine.
Our kiss was delicate, in a way I didn't think I'd ever experienced. Not dull or uninspired, just tender, as though there was great passion behind the gentleness. I felt my despondency over the likelihood of hurting her lift as I sensed the affection behind the kiss. An affection that I had to admit was mutual.
I moved my hands to her waist, caressing her through the thin cotton. Heather made a soft sound in her throat. Her lips parted further, and a few moments later I felt her tongue exploring my lower lip.
Her hands moved to my side, then slipped inside my shirt. She held me as she moved against me, seeking deeper contact with my mouth. My tongue touched hers, and I felt a tiny tremor run through her body at the contact.
Heather's breathing deepened with the kiss. Then, quite suddenly, she released my waist. She wriggled against me as she tugged up the nightgown, pulling it over her head almost before I had time to react.
"Heather..." I began, but she silenced me with another kiss, and I found myself increasingly less willing to resist what we both seem to want. My fingers drifted up her side and stroked the soft edges of perfectly shaped breasts, as Heather's tongue chased mine, and more of those exciting sounds formed within her.
Hooking my thumbs under her shoulders, I lifted her chest from me. Heather planted her elbows on either side of my head as I positioned her left breast directly above my lips. Then I raised my head until her nipple was between my lips, closed my mouth and sucked gently as I drew my face back.
Each time her nipple slipped out of my mouth, I parted my lips and took it back in, lightly compressing them, making the smooth skin around her aureole ripple, then craning my head back to free her nipple again, where it would quiver lightly after it popped from my mouth.
Heather thought this was amusing. She chuckled at my fooling around. "Are you having fun?" she asked.
I gave her a sly grin in reply and continued what I was doing.
It took maybe a minute for Heather to realize there was more than childish play in my antics. As her nipple swelled, its sensitivity grew, and the effect of my teasing was accumulating. I glanced at her expression between my light pulls on her nipple, and she seemed briefly confused. Then her lips parted and her eyes darkened with excitement.
After another minute, her breathing had quickened and she groaned occasionally. "Ohh...." she voiced, then, after a few more swift breaths. I took her hard nipple into my mouth again and let it pop out. "Nnnh... that feels so..."
She didn't seem capable of finishing the sentence.
Heather's excitement climbed as I continued. Her hips began to rock, pressing her sex to my belly. I kept repeating the move, my lips sliding over the tip of her breast, but added leaving my tongue touching her nipple, pressing against it as I slid my mouth off, then giving a short stroke of my tongue before releasing her breast and starting again.
Heather began to lose control of the sounds she was making. Her voice, which was normally quite high-pitched, became higher with her random utterances. "Uh.... Uh... Uuuuhhhh.... Ah! Ah! Ah! Uhhhhhh...." Some of these were interspersed with rapid panting.
Relaxing onto the bed, I licked my thumbs and began to circle both nipples lightly, shifting the tips of her breasts around, licking my thumbs again when I needed to so that they'd glide lightly over the rough surface of her nipples. Heather's right nipple swelled to match the firm left one.
"How does this make you feel?" I murmured.
"Nnnh... Please..." she gasped.
Careful not to dislodge Heather's arms as she supported herself, I pulled up my tee shirt, then tugged the neck over my head and tossed it aside. Caressing her nipples with my thumbs again, I brushed my lips against hers. She groaned and tried to latch her mouth to mine, but I evaded it, kissing her only lightly, feeling her breath on my tongue as I drew it over her lower lip.
After a minute, I shifted beneath her again, lifting my lips to her right breast. I took a different approach this time, moving my lips on her nipple in a chewing motion. Again, I focused just on her nipple, pressing lightly against it, feeling the softness of her breast and seeing how her hard nipple dimpled and shaded the delicate shape of her breast as I moved my lips against it.
I didn't suckle hard, just kept up enough pressure to keep the skin of her nipple sealed to my lips and tongue. Her exclamations became stronger, and her panting more frequent. The muscles of her belly writhed, sometimes drawing back so that I could see her ribs, sometimes rippling so hard that her sex pushed more firmly against my body.
Heather's twitching had become so pronounced that I started to worry that she won't be able to prop herself up on her elbows, so I gently pushed her to the side then rolled her onto her back. She whimpered softly as I gently suckled the tip of each breast again. Then I slid higher onto her body, so that my breasts touched hers.
Raising my chest, I licked my fingers to moisten my own nipples, before lowering them to brush against Heather's. Then I lowered my lips to hers, lifting her head so that I could kiss her without losing that light contact.
Heather's eyes closed and she moaned into the kiss as I rocked against her, my nipples caressing hers. Her hands explored my arms and my waist fitfully before she rested her fingers against my breasts and left them there.
She was panting softly when I broke the kiss and rolled to the side. She was wearing the hot pink panties I'd seen her pack. The front panel was dark with her arousal. I tongued her nipples as I tugged her panties over her hips, then continued on down, slipping them down her legs as I moved lower.
When I'd dropped her panties to the floor, I parted her thighs and positioned myself between them, lowering my face to kiss her labia.
Heather seemed so high on her arousal that she was barely aware of what I was doing. She whimpered and sobbed between soft cries of "Ohh... ohh..." I almost felt sorry for making her lose control so completely. It must have been a disturbing experience for someone who'd had so few intimate moments. But at the same time, she was clearly enjoying what was happening to her.
I decided not to draw the activity out too much longer. I moved my finger and thumb to press beside her clit, keeping it in place as I slowly licked it.
"Ngggh!" groaned Heather, her thighs and hips tensing, lifting from the bed.
Letting her relax for just a moment, I drew back, then repeated the action.
"Nggh! Nggh! Nggh!" came from the girl below me. She was so close...
I licked her again. "Nggh! Nggh! Nggh! NN! NN! Aaaaahhhhhh...." she called out, as her hips pressed her clit hard against my mouth.
As she crested, I took her between my lips and tongued her clit firmly. She gasped and whimpered as I kept her orgasm charged, then moaned softly as she slowly descended.
I moved up beside Heather on the bed. Her eyes were unfocused with lust as they travelled the length of my body, taking in my rounded breasts with their hard, pale nipples. "You are so beautiful," she said.
I chuckled. "Tell me that when you're not basking in the afterglow, and maybe I'll believe you."
"That was really amazing," Heather said. "I could say so many things to you right now that I might regret later." She shuddered with an aftershock. "Then again, maybe I wouldn't regret them."
I leaned in to kiss her deeply. She recoiled briefly as she tasted herself on my lips, then returned the kiss with slow passion, until I finally drew back. "We should get up," I said. "Your hosts are probably busy making your situation right. I feel like I should be helping."
Heather sighed. "Yeah," she said. "Me too."
We collected our clothes. She frowned as she picked up the hot pink panties. "Yeah, you... probably should find a different pair."
She sighed and nodded, then found the box that held her underwear and dug under the papers, randomly drawing out the panties that were patterned with dinosaurs.
I smirked at the childish pattern, but Heather gave them an oddly wistful look before grinning and stepping into them.
I washed up quickly, then dressed again, this time with a bra, plus socks and my flats, which I'd changed into when I'd packed my overnight bag on the way here.
Faye was in the kitchen, holding a sleeping baby. She touched a finger to her lips, then took the infant to her room, returning a few minutes later. "I think she's going to stay down for a while," she said. "Can I get you both something to eat? Scrambled eggs?"
"Sure," I said.
"But you can't do that every day," Heather added. "I don't want to be a burden to you."
"Today is okay," Faye replied. "You're still recovering." She cracked a couple of eggs and began to beat them.
When we had toast, eggs and coffee before us, Faye sat with us and brought us up to date. Erin had called Krys, who apparently was the person in the church most able to get anything done, before she'd left for work in the morning. Krys had decided that there was enough room in the storage shed, where the church kept trestle tables and cookout supplies, to accommodate Heather's furniture. She had a pickup truck, and she'd rounded up a church member with another, plus another volunteer, to empty the apartment. She would probably find more help before they were ready to move.
Faye wanted to know if Heather would be able to oversee the collection, probably on the following day, or if it would be too stressful.
"I can do it," Heather said. "I'm feeling much better now."
I caught her quick glance in my direction. I didn't know if Faye saw it.
"Do you think you'll need me for anything?" I asked Heather. "It sounds like it's all under control."
"I don't think I really need your help," she said, "but I'd like for you to be here. Or do you have to go?"
"I should probably get to my apartment," I said. "There are a few things I need to take care of. I can take the bus."
Heather looked disappointed, but she nodded.
"I'll come back tomorrow to help with the move, if that's okay."
"You don't need to," she said, but her face lit up. Damn, this was going to be hard. I knew I shouldn't have gotten close to her earlier. I so didn't want to hurt her. But it had been my own stupid fault for asking her on a date. If it hadn't been for that she wouldn't be in this mess. So, guilt on guilt.
On the following day, Saturday, I took the bus back to Erin and Faye's place for the move. With a car in addition to the trucks there was plenty of room to get a ride to Heather's apartment. Heather looked around to see if anything was missing. The roomies kept a sullen distance.
It took about an hour to strip the place and clean up. I took photos. Heather had better get her security deposit back, as well as her remaining rent. Though I didn't know if we could enforce either.
Then a further forty-five minutes unloading and arranging the furniture in storage, plus moving what Heather could actively use into her temporary place. When we were done, Krys took everyone for pizza. She was somewhere between a sweet encouraging voice and a nation's despotic ruler. Everyone obeyed her automatically, because she always seemed to have a perfect plan in mind.
Although Krys did all the thinking, and the guys from the church did most of the heavy lifting, it was still tiring. After the work was over, we sat to talk with Faye and Erin. Their older daughter, Zoe, peppered us with questions about school, and did we make projects for our teachers, and why Heather needed a new home, and why I didn't live there too, and did we have little sisters like Maeve, and a thousand questions that would only occur to a bright seven-ish year old kid.
Heather leaned close when Zoe was occupied with her moms, and asked if I wanted to go out again.
I really couldn't see any kind of future for us, but she'd known that before our encounter the previous day. In spite of that, I liked being around her, and she seemed to like being with me. Maybe, given time and care, we could be good for each other, if my past and preferences didn't totally alienate her.
"If you like," I said. "Same as last week, maybe?"
"I can't be so late," she said. "Bus schedule. We'd have to plan a movie well in advance."
"True," I said. "I'll text you. Will you be at the club? I'd like to introduce you to a few others."
"Okay, yes," she said, then squeezed my hand before I left.
On Monday, Anita, Susie and I were talking about a current faculty scandal, and I was wondering whether I could persuade Anita to spend another evening with me. Just as she seemed to be showing some interest, Heather showed up.
Tiff and Emma were deep in another conversation, and I really wanted Heather to be able to meet some single girls, since those two were her closest friends here, and they were pretty much solidly invested in each other. She'd met Susie before, but not Anita, so I introduced them.
Heather was dressed more casually, but even casual Heather was more elegant than the rest of us, in her bottle green medium skirt and off-the-shoulder top. The gold cross drew attention to the wide strap-free neckline.
"You're still the hottest girl in the room," I whispered to her. She turned crimson, which caught Anita's attention, the short girl's cheeks dimpling as she gave Heather a wolfish smile. "Thank you," she whispered back. "You're looking pretty good yourself."
Anita's interest had clearly been captured by the elegant redhead. When she asked Heather to dance I knew that this was not a day I'd be sharing pleasure with the lovely dark-haired girl. And it was only fair to Anita, who was sought by so many, that she had a chance to pursue someone who had caught her eye.
Heather looked to me for guidance in answering Anita's request. I squeezed her shoulder. "Go dance!" I whispered to her. "Enjoy meeting new people!"
That seemed to suit Susie, whose expression seemed predatory. She and I had spent a night together several months back, and we'd each commented to the other that we'd make another opportunity soon enough, but life and other friends had distracted us. Tonight she seemed to be determined to make good on our promise, sitting close with frequent casual touches.
Heather noticed, and seemed saddened, but she also seemed to be enjoying dancing with Anita, who was a bundle of sensual energy. At one point they sat at the table with Susie and me. Heather seemed comfortable except for one moment when Anita ran a finger down her neck, when she turned to me with a panicked look. I formed the words "You'll be fine," and she relaxed a little and turned back to the shorter girl.
Anita seemed entranced by Heather's propensity to spontaneous blushing, and I saw the tall girl color several times while talking to her. When they next danced they seemed much closer than they had.
I felt a little sick at that, though I had no right to. Anita was offering to broaden Heather's horizons. Why shouldn't she accept? I was fully intending on going home with Susie, wasn't I? And I'd wanted to introduce her to others for exactly that reason.
So why did it bother me if Heather chose to spend an evening with small, passionate Anita? It was none of my business. Just as it was none of Heather's who I slept with tonight, though it seemed that her face was still downcast when she glanced over at me with Susie.
Even so, I was surprised to feel a hand on my shoulder and auburn hair in my face when I turned. "I'm heading out," said Heather, her lips by my ear. "You will text, won't you?"
I saw Anita waiting for her, and I no longer felt a little sick. I felt devastated. But I made myself smile and told her I hadn't forgotten.
Susie's eyes held the pair as they left. "Well, that's a surprise," she said.
"Yeah," I agreed, trying to sound light. "Not at all what I expected. Not so soon, anyway."
"Right," Susie agreed.
I asked her to dance, to try to distract myself. It worked well enough, and I agreed willingly when she invited me home.
As we walked to Susie's place, I recalled Anita taking her time with me, so that my first orgasm built and built until it was a power that I couldn't contain, then using the aftershocks to guide me into pleasure after pleasure. Heather wouldn't know what had hit her.
I pictured Heather's face, eyes softened with lust after she'd come against my questing tongue, but now she was lying back on the bed, Anita's hair spread on either side of her body, as she came at the small girl's touch, and came again, and again.
I should be happy for her to get such a complete introduction to casual dating. And I guess I was. It was myself I wasn't happy for.
Susie was on me as soon as we were behind her front door. Her roommate was out, so there was no need to be circumspect. Her mouth found mine, and I responded automatically, raising my arms so she could get my shirt off.
It wasn't until she'd unhooked my bra and had her hands on my boobs that I suddenly had an overwhelming reaction to what we were doing. "Wait..." I said, backing up. "Wait."
"What is it?" Susie asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I just... I just have a feeling that I've fucked something up. Badly. I have to go."
"What the fuck?" she said.
"I know. I know," I said. "I'm sorry. I want... Fuck. I don't know what I want. I have to go."
Susie stared at me like I'd grown horns, or alien eye stalks or something. She straightened her shirt - I hadn't been a passive participant - as I picked up my bra and stuffed it into my purse.
"Well, fuck," she said. "That was a wasted evening."
"Well, I'm sorry the rest of it was so boring," I said, working my way back into my shirt. "I guess I'll see you around."
"Yeah, okay," she said, opening the door for me. I heard her lock it the moment it closed.