Slings and Arrows

Even the thought of it broke her. She wailed into the t-shirt, oblivious to the months of dust accumulated on it.

She had been trying so hard to protect herself from rejection that she had walled out love as well.

"Oh, hell," she sniffled, and then sneezed.

****

Noah was miserable. In the dim lighting of the bar, he couldn't help but notice all of the couples sitting intimately close. Some had fingers interlaced, some didn't touch at all, but they all shared that special bond that he might have helped irrevocably sever this morning.

He had been so self-righteous. He was so sure that she was completely wrong that he hadn't bothered to followed her. He had grumbled to himself about all he had to put up with from her and fueled his anger by recounting every thing she had ever done to hurt him. It only took him the short walk to his front step to realize that he had messed up. He felt like a fool for thinking he could just let her walk away from him.

It pained him that hours had gone by without hearing from her, but he thought it would be best if they both cooled down before they spoke. And he wanted to talk in person, not over the phone. He had used the time since they parted in anger to think about what he wanted from the relationship, and what he could do from his end to make it better.

They had planned to come to this bar to celebrate Valentine's Day together, even though both of them had been in dour moods. It was their neighborhood bar. Everywhere he looked provided some memory of happier times. He made sure to dress nicer than he usually did; the blue chambray shirt she loved paired with his dark denim jeans. He had texted her before he left his house. "Be there or be square?"

She hadn't replied and she hadn't shown yet. So he ordered a drink and sat on a stool close to the door so he could catch her if she walked in.

Everything seemed so much clearer in hindsight. He had taken her mood swings and angry outbursts as signs that she didn't trust him when she was really asking for him to give her a reason to. He had been so into his only little world that he couldn't see the obvious; that the person he loved was hurting and he was the only one who could fix it. Instead of asking what was wrong he should have demanded she tell him. Instead of dismissing her claims he should have worked with her to make sure that she knew her fears were groundless. They were both guilty of being stupid beyond belief, but he was damned if he was going to let Georgie go without a fight.

"Why so glum, Noah?"

It was Peg, one of the bartenders who was usually behind the bar on Saturday night. She had a rockabilly look going that the guys in the neighborhood loved.

"Eh, shitty day," he answered with finality not in the mood for small talk.

"You all alone on Valentine's Day?" she stood in front of Noah at the bar now. "Where's your friend at?"

"What friend?" he asked, annoyed.

"The black girl," she answered, shaking her head as if he was the dumb one.

"George? You mean my girlfriend? She's meeting me here," he replied, uneasy with the tone of the conversation. He'd only spoken to Peg a couple of times, and George had been there both times. He was sure that she'd introduced herself, too.

"Okay. Hope she doesn't stand you up," she have him a quick wink before heading to the other end of the bar to serve her friends.

The conversation, and the timing, were disturbing. It seemed like the universe was trying to knock him over the head with the truth; he had hurt George, and he had to let her know. He stood to put on his coat. He hoped that she was at her apartment, and that she would pick up her phone if she wasn't.

What if she doesn't want to talk to you, jackass, his thoughts helpfully supplied. What if she decided to go to a different bar, and some guy is talking to her right now, listening to her complain about her stupid boyfriend who would rather keep his head in the sand? What if that guy gets her drunk and--

That thought had him moving so fast that tripped over his barstool to get to her.

He turned as he tripped, and two small hands the color of toasted almonds pressed against his chest to support him.

George stood before him, looking even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was pulled back into a simple updo with a front bouffant. Her black wool coat hung open and he could see she wore a long, deep red sweater dress that clung to her curves. Her lips were shiny with gloss, but she had on no other make-up.

"Hi" she said, her eyes searching his for their reaction.

"Hey," he said, relief flooding through him. He wanted to hug her but he wasn't sure what to do.

"So are you just drunk or have you morphed into a complete klutz in the last 6 hours?" Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears even though she smiled.

"Well, I've apparently been a putz for a while now, but klutz is a new development. It happens when you realize your stupid pride almost cost you the love of your life."

She couldn't stop the tears then, and he hustled her away from the bar to an empty table wedged into the back corner of the bar. She slid into the bench seat, and he slid in next to her, the chair across the table too far from her for his liking.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she wiped her tears away. George had thought she was all cried out, but passing on the mascara had been a good move. "I should have just talked to you and told you that I was scared instead of pushing you away."

"And I should have listened better and asked you what was really wrong, but I was scared, too," he said. "What if I asked you what was wrong and you said you didn't want to be with me anymore?"

"I think that's what happened this morning isn't it?" she said with a trembling smile.

"Yes. I'm psychic, I guess, except for one thing."

"What?"

"I could never have guessed how empty my life would be without you," he grasped her hands in both of his. "And that was just for a few hours! If I had to go longer than that I might as well go jump in front of a bus. It'd be less painful."

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, her head angled so she didn't knock his glasses off. For a while she didn't move, simply left her trembling lips against his. He could feel her tears dripping onto their entwined hands, and wasn't ashamed when a couple of his joined the mix. Slowly, he moved his lips against hers and he felt her smile when he did.

George moved one of her hands to the back of his head, the familiar feel of his thick, cool strands of hair against her fingers comforting. Holding his head in place she kissed him as hard as she could muster, needing him to feel how important he was to her. When he parted his lips her tongue darted in, sliding sensuously over his. Noah groaned into her mouth, and the sound sent an eddy of desire spiraling through her.

His hands made their way under her jacket, and he had pulled her almost completely onto her lap by the time they finally broke their kiss.

"We should probably talk now, right?" he asked. His fingers softly stroked her face and he had a crooked smile on his face.

"We should definitely talk," George replied and then went on in a quieter voice. "But right now I want you so bad I can barely see straight let alone think."

Noah's head leaned in and he pressed a trail of soft kisses along the sensitive skin of her jaw and neck, inhaling the scent of the lavender oil George wore as perfume.

"One thing I've realized today is how important it is that I listen to my woman's needs and address them, so I'm gonna take that as my cue to haul you out of here and fuck you senseless. Sound like a plan?"

George was already in a haze of happiness and lust so she just nodded and stood to lead the way out of the bar. Their hands remained locked together as they snaked their way through the crowd and as they stepped out into the brisk night air.

"Let's go to my place," she said. "And let's take the shortcut."

"Through the park?" he asked.

"Yeah. There's something I want to show you."

There were a few people on the outskirts of the park, but there was no one else around as they walked in further.

George tugged at his hand, leading him off of the path and through the sharp branched of some leafless bushes into a small clearing between two trees.

"Umm, sweetie, where are we?"

"This is where we found Schwarz, more or less," she said, taking his hand.

"Oh." Noah looked confused.

"And this is what I wanted to show you." George guided his hand up under her dress, where there was no material blocking access to the soft thatch of curls there.

Noah sucked in his breath at the heat of her against his cold hand, and she shuddered for the opposite reason. His fingers moved against her slickness, eliciting a quiet moan.

"Geez, Georgie, you're so wet already," he whispered, pulling her against him with one hand as his fingers continued to stroke her.

"That's because I've been thinking about you fucking me right here. I can't wait until we get home Noah."

She started to gyrate against his hand, her small whimpers of pleasure causing his cock to twitch with anticipation. Noah slipped two fingers into her, feeling the muscles clench around them. He worked them in and out, curling his fingers inside of her as if beckoning her closer and closer to the edge.

George kissed him frantically, writhing in his arms as her hands clutched at his coat. The cold air passing over her thighs served as a reminder that someone could walk by and discover them at any moment. She tried to remain quiet, but Noah's thumb found its way to her clit and rubbed her there as his fingers stroked her from the inside.

"Noah, fuck!" she whispered as her body shook with pleasure. Her back suddenly arched against his and her pussy clamped down around his fingers as the orgasm rocked through her.

"Oh my god," she whispered breathlessly. She noticed Noah was struggling with his belt and tried to help him remove it, although her hands were trembling. Together they got the zip undone, and George bent to her knees as she tugged at his pants out of the way and pulled Noah's already hard dick through the opening in his boxers. She closed her hand over him, feeling the soft skin and play of veins against her palm as she stroked him. She slowly worked her mouth over his wide head and Noah groaned loudly. The shock of cold air then her hot, wet mouth closing over him was almost enough to make him come immediately.

"Sweetie, that's amazing," he said in a low voice, unable to whisper anymore. He held her by the shoulder, supporting her as she used her mouth, hands, and the winter air to pleasure him.

When she took as much of him into her mouth as possible, he couldn't stand the torture anymore and pulled her to her feet. He lifted her off of her feet, kissing her tenderly as he walked the two steps to the large of the trees.

"Turn around, Georgie," he said when he had placed her on her feet in front of the tree. She complied, leaning forward with her hands against the tree for support.

Noah lifted the hem of her coat up over her ass, followed by the hem of her dress. He marveled at that spectacular ass of hers that had been the catalyst for the best decision he had ever made in his life. He admired the thigh high black stockings encasing her legs. He wondered if he was the luckiest guy on the planet at that very minute.

And then George turned her head and said "Are you gonna fuck me or what?" and he realized that he was.

He slid his thick cock into her from behind, and they both moaned because it felt so damn good. He pumped slowly at first, one hand on her hip, the other reaching around to caress her breast.

"George," he grunted, but she was too lost in the ecstasy she was feeling to hear him. He stopped moving, but George worked herself on him, pushing back on his dick without any assistance from him.

His hands on her ass stilled her motion.

"Georgie," he whispered more urgently.

"What?" she said, still struggling to move against him.

"Please never try to leave me like that again," he said, his voice rough with emotion and lust.

"I won't, Noah," she said trying to move against him, "but please don't stop."

He rammed into her then, long, hard thrusts that sent shockwaves of passion through Georgie's entire body, from her toes to her fingertips.

"Say it again, sweetie," he demanded, his hand on her shoulder arching her back so that their faces were closer. "Say it."

His cock was working wide circles into her, hitting what felt like every possible sensitive spot inside of her as he wended his way in an out. Georgie could barely speak as she felt the beginning of another orgasm building up from her very core.

"I..." she slurred. The pleasure of Noah inside of her was so intense it bordered on pain. It was hard for her to focus on anything else, even the fact that they were fucking in a public place, anymore.

He thrust hard up into her.

"You what?"

"I will never leave you like that again, I promise, I promise," she nearly shouted, ending on a sob as her breath hitched. Noah was furiously pumping deeper into her and she couldn't tell if she cried from happiness or just sheer ecstasy. His hand flew to her mouth and she realized that she was shouting her pleasure across the park as wave after wave of unadulterated bliss flowed through her body.

Noah had already been close, with the way her pussy was tightening around his dick, but George's cries did him in. With one final thrust, he came, too, the sensations hitting him so hard he thought he would bring both of them to the ground when his knees nearly buckled. Although he tried to muffle her shouts, he couldn't help the loud roar he emitted as he shot off into her.

George chuckled, leaning her arms against the tree and resting her head against it. Their short, quick breaths frosted the air around their mouths.

"You okay there, buddy?" she asked Noah, who was now slumped against her.

"I think I'm more than ok," he said, reluctantly pulling out from her warmth. He pulled her dress and coat back down and then tucked himself away.

He took the lead this time, leading them out of the bushes and toward the asphalt path that led through the park.

As they were leaving the bushes, a police cruiser pulled up and a bright flashlight beam suddenly blinded them.

"What are you guys doing? This part of the park is closed right now," a disembodied male voice barked at them. They couldn't see beyond the flashlight.

Noah blanked, the lack of blood in his brain not helping the situation.

"Oh, I lost my cat, officer" George said in a sickly sweet voice. "We thought we heard something in these bushes, so we were just checking it out. We're leaving now."

There was a silence and then the light went out. They could see the officer now,and just make out his incredulous eye roll before he said. "Okay, we'll keep an eye out for this missing cat. You two should leave now though. "

"Thanks officer." George said as they passed the car.

"Oh and , son?" the officer called out before they got too far away, "your fly is down."

They both laughed and Noah zipped up, before grabbing her hand as they walked out of the park.

"This has been one hell of a Valentine's day," he said squeezing her hand tightly in his.

She looked at him, still a little dazed, and smiled.

"Minus the whole 'driving away my boyfriend' thing, it was the best Valentine's Day ever for me."

"We still have a lo of things to work out, but from this point on let's try to focus on what we can do to make it better, instead of blaming ourselves or each other."

"That sounds like a plan," she said.

Then her walking slowed down and she squeezed her thighs together awkwardly.

"Actually, part A of the plan should be a shower. I'm leaking like the Exxon Valdez over here."

"George, you have such a way with words," he laughed.

"Well, if you don't want to join me in the shower, that's fine, but it'll be your loss."

"I'll be there for the shower, and anywhere else you want me to be," he said as they walked up the steps to her building.

"I love you, Noah," she said.

"Duly noted," he replied, and then fended off her blows before laughing and adding "I love you, too, Georgie."