Summer of an Older Woman Pt. 02

I spooned Linda from behind, kissing her cheek and her ear as I held her like the most precious thing in the world. She was, to me. "Thank you for trusting me with your secret, Honey. It will always stay secret with me. But we can talk about it, maybe play it whenever we want a really nasty time together." I kissed her shoulder.

"You mean over the next 6 weeks, right?" Linda said through a big yawn.

"Yeah, I guess so. Good night, Honey. My Darling."

"MMMM my Baby. Get some sleep; we have a busy day planned tomorrow." And then she conked out, like I wished I could do. I was also ready to go to sleep, but I took a few minutes to watch Linda sleep. That look of peace and contentment was all over her face.

I stroked my fingers gently through her hair and I whispered, very softly, "Good night, Honey. I love you." I rolled over and, despite the emotions roiling my heart, I fell deep asleep minutes later.

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Sunday morning I made breakfast for Linda. Nothing special, just a Western omelet, buttered wheat toast and juice and coffee. The toughest part is the timing, getting the toast ready just as the omelet is coming out of the pan so both are warm, but my dad (yes, my dad) had taught me how to do it years ago.

Linda was delighted. "I never had a man cook anything for me before!" she said with undisguised glee. "Not even in my six years of marriage. He barely knew how to make coffee."

"Sounds like you need a well-rounded man in your life, who knows how to cook and clean and do laundry. Who can share the chores." It was kind of clear what I was saying. Linda got it.

We ate quietly for a few minutes, thinking as we did. Then Linda put her fork down and held my hand. "Dennis, Baby, I think we have to talk. You know, last night, after that amazing sex we shared" she said with a slightly shy smile, "I was really tired and I know when I go to sleep, I look like I go very quickly. But I could sense you staring at me, and I could swear I heard you whisper that you love me. Please tell me the truth, Dennis. Did you say that? I'm not upset. But I need to know."

I blushed deep red and my palm got sweaty. I was sure she was all the way out when I said it. But if she heard me, I did not want to lie to her about it. "I did think you were fully asleep, Honey. You sure as hell looked it. Yes, I did say it. I've been feeling it for a few days now, maybe longer. I had to say it. I thought it was safe, that there was no way you could hear me."

She wasn't angry or upset; in fact, her smile was warm and sweet. "Baby, what happened to our plan? To have a great summer and then go our separate ways? It's not like we can be together come September." Her fingers were grazing along the back of my hand. I had an involuntary shudder from the intimacy of her touch.

"Honestly, I don't know. I guess I'm going as planned. But that doesn't mean I can't feel love for you. I've never loved a woman before, so I'm not able to compare what I feel to anything. But this has to be love. Linda, if you don't feel the same, it's all right. You can tell me. I know this kind of goes against our plan."

The look on her face was soft and a little sad, and I steeled myself to get rejected. Maybe she'd end things now; I couldn't really blame her. She had to protect herself. Maybe even protect me from getting in too deep. But instead of letting me down gently, Linda stood up from her chair and then sat across my lap. Her arms were around my neck and my hands held her around her waist. "We're making a real mess of this, Baby. But I have to honest with you too. I do love you, Dennis. We must be out of our minds. But I know how love feels, and I'm feeling it again, for the first time in years. I'm physically very attracted to you, and I can't exactly figure out what such a sweet. handsome young man sees in an old woman like me." I was about to protest but Linda kissed me quick, cutting me off. "I'm just teasing you, Dennis. You're so much more than your years would suggest. I don't know what's going to happen in six weeks when you leave. I assume we'll both be heartbroken for a while. I'll cry myself to sleep while I imagine you forgetting me in the arms of some hot, young coed. In her bed." Tears were falling down both her cheeks, and I could feel them welling up in my eyes as well.

"Honey, I'll be hurting too. Just as much as you, maybe even more. You're my first love. I won't be jumping into bed with anyone. Not for a while. A long while." We were both crying, embracing each other, feeling a fraction of the hurt that would be coming our way at the beginning of September. It couldn't be helped. We were already in way deeper than we had planned to be.

We sat there, the rest of our breakfast forgotten, Linda on my lap and in my arms, and I felt the loving embrace of her arms around my shoulders and my neck. Her lips were right next to my ear, and I could feel as well as hear her breathing, and despite how sad we were feeling, her proximity, the feel of her body and her warmth, had me excited. I was getting hard beneath her body, with no intent on my part.

Linda didn't miss it; she couldn't, really. I was poking her right in her tush. She tilted her head back and looked at me with a little smile. "Really, Baby?"

I had an embarrassed smile even through my tears. "It has a mind of its own." We both chuckled, easing a lot of the sadness we'd been feeling. Then we kissed a few times before I asked "Honey, please take me back to bed? I desperately want to make love to you. My beautiful Linda."

Wordlessly, Linda stood up, took my hand, and led be back to her bed, where we took our time, making love, with the sweetest, gentlest touches and kisses. It was maybe the most beautiful loving we shared up to that point. When we were done, I helped her strip the bed, wash the sheets, we showered, and then we picked up sandwiches and potato salad and iced tea, then went to a local park for a picnic lunch. The day was warm, a little sticky, but a great summer afternoon. We talked about things we wanted to do the rest of the summer, such as a few concerts and a ball game or two. We were making plans for the short-term future in a way new couples do. And Linda said it was time for me to meet her children, the following weekend.

When I got ready to go home, around 6, we were standing by her door, holding each other like we couldn't let go. We kept kissing until Linda had to throw me out. Meeting her kids was one thing; meeting her ex-husband was quite another. I wasn't ready for that either.

I said what we had been avoiding saying almost all day. "I love you, Honey. I'm going to miss you terribly tonight."

"I love you too, Baby. I may not miss you until bedtime, because Michael and Sandy will keep me busy, telling me about their weekend. But the bed will feel very lonely without you. You'd better go, Dennis. We'll see each other tomorrow morning."

So I left, hating the feeling of being without Linda. And when I got home, after I made a cold dinner (I wasn't hungry when my family ate, something that annoyed my mother), I sat with my parents and told them Linda and I were going to go away for five days after camp ended. They both pushed back, primarily with the argument that I was setting a poor example for my brother. I countered by saying that I was actually setting a good example, that I was spending my time with a woman I cared deeply for (I didn't use the 'L' word), not just screwing around with a variety of women. We treated each other with respect and, despite the difference in our ages, we were very close. After an hour of 'discussing' it, they reluctantly accepted that I was going to go away for a few days with a woman.

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Over the next few weeks, Linda and I grew together. 'Love' was a word we shared regularly, and we meant it every time. We went to a few concerts together, both rock and roll as well as a couple of classical free concerts in Central Park. We went to dinner on the weekends, mostly casual fare, and on Wednesdays, Linda would make me dinner. When she introduced me to Michael and Sandy that Saturday, I was as nervous as when she met my family. I met them at the apartment before we took them to Flushing Meadow Park with a basket lunch of cold fried chicken. Sandy, as Linda expected, liked me right away, but Michael took some time to warm up to me. He wasn't hostile, but kind of standoffish. By the end of the afternoon, he was coming around. He and I threw around a baseball and I caught balls that he batted off a tee. All in all, it was a pretty great day and a huge relief.

The following Tuesday, when I was home, I got a phone call from my closest friend, Christopher, whom I'd been friends with since we were 7 years old. I loved him almost as much as I loved my brother, but I had been a shitty friend that summer. I barely saw him or any of my friends. I'd been kind of busy.

After saying our hellos, he got right to the point. "So, Dennis, who is she and why haven't I met her?" He knew some summers i had a camp girlfriend, but it was usually a weekend only thing and I would see my friends during the week. That summer, even on the nights I wasn't with Linda, I stayed home, mostly, watching or going to a ball game with my father and brother, going to after camp social activities with the staff, like softball games or a movie, and spending a lot of time on the phone with Linda.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know I have been like a ghost this summer. There is someone, but she's not like girls in past summers. She's someone very special. It's been amazing and yet it's going to hurt like hell when I go back to school. Things will have to end then. And I'll be a wreck. We both will."

Christopher, who had a long-term girlfriend of his own, Marie, had no such trouble. They both went to Buffalo together, so there were no goodbyes. Previous years, whomever we were dating, we always found time once or twice a week to get together on our own, with some of the other guys, and with our respective girls. This summer had been different. And he wanted to know why.

"I'm sorry, Dennis. Is she going away as well? Far away? Or is she staying home and going locally to school?"

"She's not in school, Chris. She...she graduated already."

"Really. Is she that smart? Or is she a couple of years older? You lucky bastard."

"Her name is Linda and she is older. But Chris, if I tell you about her, you have to agree not to tell anyone else, and I mean anyone. Not any of our friends. Not your sister (Nancy), the blabbermouth. And not Marie. I mean it. No one."

"OK, you have my word. No one. Including my sister. I like you better than I like her anyways."

"Linda isn't a couple of years older. She's 31, twelve years older. And we're having a great time."

I could almost hear the wind leaving his lungs. Just when I thought he must have hung up on me, Chris said "Are you dressed? Because I'm picking you up in ten minutes and we're going to get a couple of beers."

"You don't have to do that, man. I promise, I'll meet you in a couple of days."

"Bullshit. If you're not dressed, throw on some pants and a shirt. Ten minutes." Then he hung up.

I was ready to go in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, so I called Linda quick to tell her I wouldn't be talking to her later, but I'd see her in the morning. She understood, and told me just to make sure Chris didn't drive drunk. Her concern was very sweet.

Chris was prompt and he drove us to a bar called The Old Forge, a real casual place with bowls of peanuts in the shell all around, and the shells ended up on the floor. If you had a peanut allergy, you couldn't even breathe the air in there. We got a pitcher of Miller, and Chris listened while I told him the entire story, from when Linda and I met during orientation through the past weekend. I even told him about her meeting my parents and how we were going away for a few days together. The only thing I didn't tell him was about Linda's movies. I wouldn't tell anyone about that under threat of death.

He asked a couple of questions as we drank down the pitcher and cracked peanuts, and the shells grew around our feet. Then he asked "Dennis, it sounds like she's a great lady, but are you out of your fucking mind?"

I blinked, shocked by the question. "What the fuck, Chris?"

"You're heavily involved with a woman who has kids, and who can't move her life up to Albany, and you're intending to go back there for school, right? How do you think this ends? With both of you a complete mess. I'm sure she's a dream come true, but it's going to turn into a nightmare. You know you can call me anytime if you need to cry on my shoulder. It just sounds like you're really in love with her. You don't love her, Dennis. You're IN LOVE with her, aren't you?"

Fuck, he was right. I was all the way in with Linda. We were in love with each other. Like I'd give my life for her. "Yeah, I guess I am. I don't regret it, Chris. But I will come September 6th. I know we're both going to be devastated. But we don't want to stop this either. She's the best thing to ever happen in my life, and I'm not just talking about sex. I've never felt like this about a woman. We get along on every level. If I were just a few years older..."

We commiserated a while longer, finished the pitcher but didn't drink more than that, so he was fine to drive home. It was after midnight by then, and we both had work in the morning (Chris was a lifeguard at a private pool club, built like a Greek God). As we got close to my house, he asked, "Hey, Dennis, how would you feel about the four of us getting together this weekend, getting some dinner and some drinks? Or go listen to a bar band?"

"I'd love to, Chris, but I have no idea about Linda. It could be even weirder for her, being 31, out with three 19-20 year olds, than when just the two of us go out. I'll ask her, very nicely. But don't expect it to happen." He pulled up by my house and we hugged like brothers. "I'll ask her tomorrow and I'll call you tomorrow night from her place. Thanks for not making this difficult for me, bro. You're the best."

"Bullshit" he said with a huge grin. "I'm above average. That's what Marie says." We both laughed as I got out of the car, feeling all right. I knew my best friend would never let me feel bad about anything. And he knew I would do the same for him.

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The next day was Wednesday, our night during the week to spend together. It also ended up being a day where things got kind of uncomfortable for us. It turns out, as discreet as we tried to be, we weren't quite discreet enough.

I'd known Sue, the camp director, for the previous four years or so. She was a few years older than me, just earned her Masters degree in Social Work, and was her first year as director. We were friendly during the summers, but didn't socialize during the rest of the year. So our relationship was good, but casual. At the rendezvous that morning, she came up to me briefly and said "Dennis, I need to talk to you and Linda this morning, so both of you ride with me in my car out to camp." It was pretty clear what she wanted to talk to us about.

We all got into her car, Linda up front and me in the back seat. As we got on the highway, Sue started the meeting. Linda and I looked at each other, not exactly worried (we weren't doing anything wrong) but definitely uncomfortable.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on with the two of you? A few of the other division heads, as well as myself, noticed you two talk alone pretty frequently, and you've even disappeared together a few times during lunch, other times as well. No one has seen you kissing or anything, but people are talking. Not the younger staff as far as I can tell, but sooner or later, if something is going on, it will spread. This place is one big coffee klatch. Everyone gossips about who are the camp couples. I'm not stopping or forbidding you from being together, but if there's something going on, I need to know, so I can tell people to stop speculating and mind their business."

Linda spoke up for us. "Dennis and I have been seeing each other since the beginning of July. We started as friends, but it grew pretty quickly. We thought we were being discreet. We don't kiss or hug, but I guess we have been spending time together more than we should considering the environment."

I added my two cents. "Sue, if you need us to try to cool it here, we can. We don't want to be the object of everyone's speculation. We care very much for each other but we don't need everyone gossiping about us. Things are kind of complicated to begin with...I'm sure you know why. The last thing either of us want is to make things more complicated, for you or for ourselves."

"I'm not here to tell anyone who they can and can't see socially, unless one of you was seeing one of your counselors. Even if they were over 18. That can get very complicated. So you're both over 18 and you're equals at work. If you don't mind the little gossip mongers, you can be as open about your relationship as you like, within reason, as long as you don't neglect your groups. This is work, but it's also supposed to be fun. So enjoy yourselves. I'm not asking any questions about how it's working out or what comes after. That's for you to decide. But I am happy for both of you." And that ended it; the rest of the conversation in the car was about camp things mostly as well as Sue's upcoming marriage in April.

When we got to Linda's apartment later that afternoon, we just sat down and hugged for a while. We kind of needed it. "Honey, I'm really tired of talking about us. Last night I talked to my best friend, Chris. That was almost all we talked about. Then this morning with Sue...I just want to love you tonight. Aside from one question."

"That actually sounds perfect, Baby. Being held and loved by you. But you can ask your question first. Then we'll clean up, eat something, and do what comes naturally." Her sweet smile lit up her face.

"Chris would like to meet you. With his girlfriend Marie. He suggested either dinner this weekend or we could go hear a live band."

"Oh, God, Dennis. I'll be like the chaperone for the three of you. Let me think it over tonight. If we do, I would prefer dinner to a band. It's hard to talk in a club." While Linda took her shower, I called Chris and told him I needed another day. Then I got into the shower with Linda, a kind of surprise appearance.

"Look who's here!" she said with a pleasant greeting. She was already nice and soapy, with a thick layer of shampoo in her dark hair. There was something incredibly sexy about her all lathered up. "Let me make a little room for you."

I got under the shower and got nice and wet all over, then I let her pamper me by using her small hands to shampoo my hair, using her nails to really massage my scalp. Just feeling Linda work in the lather, making my scalp tingle, was an intensely sensual experience, and then she took the bar of soap and did my entire body, from my face all the way down to my feet. It was like being worshiped by my beautiful love.

"That feels wonderful" I said, simply. "Heavenly."

"If you like that, Baby, wait until you feel this." Linda gripped my cock again, like the last time we showered together, but this time when I reached for her to return the pleasure, she backed away a little and said "No, Dennis. Let me take care of you without distraction. You can make it up to me later." She gave me a little kiss on the lips, then she whispered in my ear "I'm going to make you feel so good, but if you don't like it, just tell me and I'll stop. Just try to relax." I had no idea what she could do that I might ask her to stop, but I gave myself over to Linda.

She was stroking me with those mixed strokes, slow, then faster, then slowing it down again. She twisted her fist around the head when she came to the top, sending waves of pleasure from my cock to the rest of my body. I felt her finger from her other hand again going up and down the crack of my ass, nice and slippery from the thin coating of soap. I was shaking, ready to let myself cum, just minutes away, when I felt the tip of her finger probe my anus. Just the tip. That backed me away from my climax.