Falling in Love Read online

  Better than red patches, anyways.

  There were sunny glades all along here and the tall grasses and bull-rushes obscured the camp from sight, and vice-versa. How long would it take him to get curious? She’d felt his eyes upon her, when he could manage it, all day long.

  Wading into a shallow pool, it didn’t seem too bad. The water would be bearable for a short time and she was feeling grubby. It was time for a bath, and maybe, just maybe, to try and drop some kind of a hint. Finding a suitable sand bar in a shallow spot, festooned with tiny green underwater plants trailing in the current, she sat, feeling the gravel under her bum. She settled onto her elbows, and then stretched out. She laid back and let the water flow over her nakedness, with only her eyes, mouth and nose sticking out.

  Egads, that was cold, and she only had so much time. There was only so much of this she could take. Being alone out here with such a manly creature, and being unable to communicate.

  She didn’t appreciate the irony.

  Not at all.

  Her body began to quake, and shiver, and to twitch. The only sound was of running water, tinkling and gurgling in her ears, yet her thoughts would not leave her. She ran her hands over her body to remove some of the sweat and stickiness. She had about another minute in there.

  When she sat up again, she thought she heard something snap or crack. Shaking the water out of her ears, she turned to look.

  Kenn’Karr stood on the riverbank, with a look of awe on his face.

  Putting a hand down, she turned to him as she stood. With her eyes locked on his, she waded, chest and chin held high, back nicely arched, lips slightly parted, hips going back and forth, up and out of the water. All she had to do was to remember to breathe once in a while.

  He extended a hand, and she took it.

  Kenn’Karr bent, placed a hand behind her knees and one behind her shoulders.

  “Good boy. Nice man.” She was having trouble with her breathing…and her heart. “That’s the idea.”

  They stared at each other and she kept touching him. Wherever she could reach, she stroked and caressed and touched it. She dripped water as he picked her up and took her up a short incline. Gently he lowered her into the long grass, her hands still roving.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  Kenn’Karr’s hands went to the fastening of his kilt-like garment. The thing dropped away.

  “Oh, yeah. Now we’re talking.” Jayne went up on her knees, grasping his penis by the base with her left hand and giving him a little scratch just in front of the scrotum. She pulled him in closer.

  His hands came up but he wasn’t struggling too much. His hands here upon her shoulders.

  Already semi-hard, that seemed to do the trick.

  She looked up into his lowered face as he said something softly.

  “Oh, come on.”

  He licked his lips and stared.

  He said something again.

  Such a gentleman.

  “It’s not like I haven’t earned it.”

  He licked his lips and stared at her, unwilling to take her by force, apparently. In her opinion, that wouldn’t be so bad sometimes. It would save you from your thoughts, and indulge your inclinations.

  Jayne straightened up, gave his cock another good squeeze, and then plunged her starving mouth decisively down on his member as Kenn’Karr gasped and held her head and stroked her shoulders.

  Oh, God, thank you.

  Thank you for this.

  He was saying things, in a stronger voice now, and she came up for air.

  “What kind of a barbarian are you, anyway?” She took his cock in her mouth again, the burning in her loins becoming unbearable.

  He held her head and her neck, head rolling back in pleasure. Her own body moved and gyrated of its own accord.

  This was really living, though.

  There was still a little voice in the back of her head.

  How could she have let so many years slip by? What a big, beautiful, gorgeous hunk of man. Then she remembered Tom, and maybe that did, sort of, explain all those years…sort of.

  Tom was a jerk.

  But this was a completely different time and place.

  Kenn’Karr abruptly pulled away. He held her at bay, looking down in pleasant astonishment.

  He said something, and Jayne lay back at full length.

  Kenn’Karr dropped to the ground and roughly yanked her legs apart. He was on hands and knees, finally. Finally, he was lowering his body onto hers. She thought of a condom but to hell with it.

  Too late now, she thought happily. Besides, she could never explain it to him. Her sharp nails raked his buttocks and he stiffened from the pain, shock and pleasure written all over his face.

  Besides, someone like Kenn’Karr would make very good babies. What an incredible feeling that thought gave her.

  “Give me a baby, Kenn’Karr.” She couldn’t believe what she was saying in her sweet madness and yet all doubts had been removed. “Please, please, please.”

  She meant it, every word of it. If only she could tell him so. Her hands roamed up and down, and it was sweet heaven.

  God, it was like he seemed to like her and everything.

  How needy was that?

  It was the waiting that was killing her. She kept pulling him, trying to tug him down towards her, but he was drinking in the sight of her body and wouldn’t be rushed. His arms were straight and firmly planted. She panted softly, licking her lips, begging him with her eyes and hands.

  His hands came up to her breasts, his mouth came down to hers and he shoved his tongue in strongly, and, just as strongly she fought tongue-to-tongue with him.

  Her fingernails raked his shoulders.

  Her feet came up and she wrapped her lower legs, ankles and heels, around his hips.

  “Come on, Kenn’Karr, come on. You know what to do.”

  He said something, very softly, stroking her hair and looking deep into her eyes.

  She clung to him desperately.

  He kissed her, taking his sweet damned time about it, too. He pulled back, and looked upon her, and smiled at her, and talked to her some more while she moaned his name over and over.

  “Please, please, please, don’t fail me now…Oh, God, Kenn’Karr.”

  The tip of his penis was right there, poking at her labia.

  What a bastard, when you came right down to it.

  “Yes, yes, that’s right, now you’re getting’ it—fuck me, Kenn’Karr. Fuck me, oh, please, oh, God, fuck me…oh, ah…oh…yes!”

  The tip was inside of her as she tried to pull him down, thrashing and moaning in a kind of rage. That was the right place, anyway.

  “Fuck me…!” Oh, God, please fuck me, Kenn’Karr.

  He smiled now, just watching her, and so she cursed him, pounding away on his chest with her fists in frustration.

  Finally, finally, he thrust deeply into her, slowly, for the first time, and then again and again, eyes never leaving hers for a minute and finding all kinds of new and interesting things to say in a language that only lovers understood.

  And it was about bloody time, too.

  Poker Night

  Scene One

  Austin was tall, with soft features, yet boyishly lean. He had sad brown eyes and a grin that lit up the place. When he got going, his one-liners were real zingers, and some nights they just couldn’t stop laughing. They’d been out a few times with a bunch of friends, but then they started going out, just the two of them.

  Austin was so scared on the phone when he called the first time. It really touched her, in a man so big and confident otherwise.

  So far, he was painfully shy about asking.

  Bethany had her mind all set to do something about that. Austin had kissed her when dropping her off after a movie, more than a week ago now, but then on the next date he was so shy and diffident. It was like he couldn’t do it. The first date was a wake-up call. They shook hands afterwards. She really liked Austin an
d Ian was off in university. She was convinced Austin was a virgin. Sex with Ian was all right, the few times they actually did it. He’d pursued her all through high-school, in a half-kidding, half-contemptuous manner. After they had sex a few times, he was just different. He didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to her after a while, and then expected her to put out or something, at the drop of a hat. She wasn’t his first choice, not at all. Not anymore. He was secretive. Something had happened.

  She was a free woman—one who just might do it for Ian when he had no one else on the line. Any deep affection she’d had for him vapourized. She’d relied on his attentions in some ways. She liked Ian. In many ways, he was a nice guy, cute enough in his own way. Ian was better than nothing. And he was gone, bitter realization that it was.

  Austin was different. He was obviously interested, and didn’t act like he owned her. Such a gentleman, too, always running around to hold the door open for her, holding hands like he loved it when they walked any distance. He couldn’t get enough of her. Austin had an inferiority complex to beat anything she’d ever seen, unlike dear old Ian. And yet he was good-looking, he was smart, funny, he dressed well. He had a job and made good money. She had a feeling about Austin. Austin would set out to change the world, and she liked that. Austin was a hopeless romantic, and he kept calling her up. What was not to like? She felt safe when she was with him, that streak of protectiveness was very appealing. He was afraid of messing it up, which really said something about how he felt about her. For him, the stakes must seem very high. There was nothing casual about Austin. That intensity intrigued Bethany very much.

  The TV went on and Austin headed to the kitchen. She settled onto Austin’s sagging red couch, with swirling paisley upholstery and art deco arms that might have looked elegant in the 1930s. They had stopped at the liquor store. He returned with two brimming glasses of a cheap, bubbly wine. She insisted on chipping in, and made him buy a magnum. She was totally prepared, serene in her mission’s purpose and outcome.

  “How was work?”

  “Uh, it was okay.”

  “I laid around in the back yard all day. Tanning. I got a bit of colour, I guess.”

  “Well, good for you! Some of us have to work for a living.”

  She laughed at that. She started a summer job on Monday, although she hadn’t been accepted at school yet.

  She was just softening him up a little. She wondered what was going through his mind as the mental picture of her in a bikini registered on his face with a far-off look and a flurry of blinks.

  He gave her a funny little grin, and his eyes dropped quickly away.

  “There’s not much on tonight.” He’d checked the listings, but Bethany liked Nature on PBS and he’d always had an interest in wildlife and the outdoors. “I suppose it really doesn’t matter.”

  Her show came on in a couple of hours. He had promised to watch it and not to laugh or make fun it. She loved that show. That was fine, as long as she watched it with him, he was happy. Austin felt the lure of distant lands. He had dropped out of biology at university, so he could make enough money to go on. It was all big dreams at this point. The pair of them had such great conversations, just the two of them, laughing and giggling, with all of life ahead and just waiting out there. When he called as promised, Bethany suggested a quiet night at his place.

  “That’s okay. We can always play cards.”

  Austin grinned, shaking his head at the notion.

  He rolled up a joint. The lighter was almost gone and he flicked it and flicked it. Austin had his own place, up on the second floor of an old two-story brownstone.

  They sat and passed it back and forth.

  “I want to try something. Do you trust me?” She patted his leg. “Come on, just say yes.”

  He looked over, with eyebrows raised.

  “Absolutely!” He laughed and she chuckled along.

  What the heck, she thought.

  “Exhale, and try and hold it out as long as possible.”

  Austin complied as Bethany sucked in the biggest lungful of pot she’d ever had.

  Beckoning Austin forward, his eyes bugging out with the need for air, she stuck her mouth on his and clamped her free hand behind his head.

  His mouth turned up in an incredulous grin, but as he stared at her, he didn’t try and pull away. Committing to it, it made a much better seal. It turned into a real kiss.

  She blew out hard, as Austin’s lungs expanded and his eyebrows rose. She pushed and pushed on her diaphragm until she could blow no more. He gave an aggressive intake of breath and she almost collapsed in his arms, seeing little black and white curlicues in the edges of her vision. Austin’s lungs were at lot bigger than hers.

  He broke off and topped up with fresh, cool air, not letting her get away just yet.

  Austin had some aggression in him.

  Her body was warm and heavy in his arms. Her hair smelled fresh and clean.

  She’d seen that aggression when he was driving. He was very fast and very good in that little yellow car. Austin tried to control it, but when someone pushed too hard, oh, well…too bad for them.

  Austin brought his mouth up to hers.

  She sucked in as much air and smoke as she could and then they both gasped and fell back at the same time, eyes locked in discovery. She licked her lips and he swallowed, fearful of his own strength sometimes. She was warm and cuddly again, half in his lap after that little episode.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  With a long look into Austin’s eyes, Bethany casually reached for a glass.

  “Care for a drink?’ She took in a good mouthful and sat up straight, daring him.

  He came right in for it, clasping on to her mouth with care.

  She shared the wine with him, the look on his face intent and serious.

  Finally they broke off and swallowed, Austin struggling for air. She smiled and nodded.

  They reached for each other as of one mind.

  They cuddled face to face, inches apart. Her mouth was set in a quirky little grin and Austin had a look that smacked of disbelief. He was licking his lips and breathing heavily, still finding it hard to accept that she really liked him. She wanted Austin. She watched the thought go through his head. His eyes clouded and then refocused. She nodded, a look of serious intent on her brow.

  His left hand was on her outer thigh. Bringing it up behind her head, as their right hands clasped back and forth in unspoken communication, Austin kissed her again. Just to let him know, Bethany squeezed his hand, parted her lips and darted her tongue into his mouth.

  Staring, Austin rose up and around her, enveloping her and totally immobilizing her. All she could do was to grab on tight with her free hand and squeeze him.

  Austin pushed his tongue into her mouth and she just let everything go, writhing and pushing back, closing her eyes and breathing through her nose. He broke off, not knowing how far to push it and not wanting to lose Bethany just when things seemed to be going well. He was holding on to her boob. His jaw dropped. He clasped at her hands, suddenly afraid to look at her. She decided to let him think on it for a while. Repressing a smirk, she sat up a little straighter.

  Scene Two

  They were very close, watching and listening to the set in a distracted manner, drinking wine in between bouts of heavy petting. Some other show was on TV now, but that was the farthest thing from their minds.

  “How about some cards?”

  “Huh?” His eyes searched hers.

  There was a suspicious bulge in his pants.

  She gave him a pat on the shoulder.

  “Uh, yeah.” Austin got up, sort of carefully turning the groin area away from her, and still in a slightly hunched-over posture turned the TV down.

  His back to her, he went over to the stereo and put on some music, some long jazzy thing that wouldn’t require constantly changing recordings. Half blinded by brain fog, his hands trembling, he got lucky and it was just the thing.
Austin was a man of action. The strong, silent type. She smiled again, not looking up. He had pretty good taste in music, too. Austin came back and sat down.

  She was already riffling the deck, always laying there on the side table beside a cribbage board that had once belonged to Austin’s grandfather. His mother’s side of the family was all hot for cards.

  It wasn’t exactly cribbage she had in mind.

  “So, ah. What do you want to play?” Austin had played cribbage, and crazy-eights, Kings in the Corner, a few simple games.

  “Do you know euchre? Cut-throat euchre?”

  “No, sorry.” His aunts and uncles were just nuts for euchre, but wouldn’t let him play with the grown-ups.

  They took it pretty seriously.

  “How about poker?”

  Her sister’s boyfriend knew Austin and said he thought he could play poker. According to Joe, who played for fairly big money Thursday nights with friends, Austin wasn’t very good at it. Bethany had learned poker from her dad, an engineer who built refineries all over the world. Her dad was very good at it.

  “Jeez, I don’t know.” Austin shrugged. “Whatever you want. You can teach me how.”

  Whatever Bethany wanted was fine with Austin, still reeling with the kisses. He liked her so much. He couldn’t believe his luck, and that was just truth. He was always horny, and sooner or later it would happen. This was as far as he had ever gotten with a girl. Lately his mind just reeled with thoughts of Bethany, especially when he was at work, soul-crushing in its boredom. The night shifts were very long for Austin these days.

  For whatever reason, the real obvious sluts—the ones everyone talked about, they just never really appealed to him. He was too afraid to try, and they were always surrounded by dead-beats and half-wits, football jocks and rich boys anyway. Bethany was a nice girl and the fact that she went out with him at all was a big surprise.

  He still couldn’t believe it in some ways. Asking her out was a real leap for Austin.

  He was even more surprised when she asked him to pull the coffee table out of the way. She got up, went straight to his room, and came out with the thick comforter from his bed. She put it on the table for a second. His heart speeded up at the thoughts that entailed. She turned down the dimmer switch and went into the kitchen, coming back with a pair of wine bottles with stub candles set in them. She’d spotted them on the way in and had always had an eye for detail.