Tea Leaves

"Make love to me," I cried, clawing at her back. "I need you, I need you so much..."

And then I cried out as she nipped my neck then kissed the sting away.

"Can I touch you?" she moaned.

"Yes," I cried out, desperate.

I felt her fumbling at me, and then pleasure blotted out everything as she tugged the soaked crotch of my panties aside and found my clit.

I writhed under her as she slowly circled it with her fingertip

"I have wanted this since that first night," she whimpered. "When you... mm... threatened to undress me. Since then, Dawn..."

I moaned wordlessly, squirming against her.

"I masturbated," she panted. "I came hard, three times, dreaming you were there, watching and teasing me..."

She cried out as I shuddered and dug my nails into her back.

"Gently," she begged. "No marks. Just... just a bit less..."

"Fuck me," I grunted. "Just... Fuck me. Rough. Hard. Uhn. Inside me. Please, Chloe, please, I'm... I'm begging..."

And I spasmed as she abruptly pushed her fingers into me.

"Like that?" she whispered.

"Uhn...hunn... " I gasped. "Just... perfect... now... now... oh God..."

I groaned harshly as she began to twist and spread them inside me. I could feel my thighs shaking, my belly spasming each time she pushed herself into me.

I clutched her to me, full of her, utterly possessed by the need to be hers. I somehow managed to hook a calf over her and hold her more firmly against me...

Then she found my left nipple with her tongue and my mind went blank. She had somehow by chance discovered that she could completely short-circuit my usual slow torturous climb to my plateau, and within maybe three seconds I groggily realised that I was teetering on the cusp of a massive orgasm.

"Chloe," I moaned, flailing, slapping at her arm, trying to get her attention...

My entire body convulsed, and she let out a startled little squeak.

I began to buck, writhe, make weird little moaning grunts as the room darkened around me...

Contractions struck my belly like a fist.

She moaned as I spasmed against her, then she gently bit my nipple.

But I was far, far too overwhelmed to register it as more as the little dainty decorative sugar-work on the top...

And I collapsed and lay there - a broken creature, wrecked and gasping.

"Dawn?" she whispered, after a moment. "Dawn... shit, Dawn, are you okay?"

I must have made some sort of weird noise, because she stared down at me with a frown...

"Dawn?" she said, slightly louder. She gently patted my cheek. "Dawn? Sweetie? Dawn?"

"I'm... I'm..." I panted, flailing helplessly at my wrecked sheets, struggling to speak. "Oh... oh my God... oh my God..."

And then I gasped a long, ragged breath.

"Oh fuck," I whispered. "Oh fuck me..."

"But I just did," she said softly, as a grin replaced her frown. "Shit, Dawn, you... you frightened me there... I thought you had a seizure or something..."

"You... you... I am... I am going to... write down that... you, Chloe Norrel, just officially... fucked my brains out," I moaned. "I almost blacked out there. Oh my God, that was so..."

She laughed softly into my neck, and I cried out as she shifted her fingers deep in me.

"Does that little whimper mean that you want some more of me?" she whispered.

"Does the sun... rise every morning? Oh my God, you feel so magic... just... just be slower... now..."

"I am going to make you scream," she moaned. "I am going to make you beg... fuck I'm so hot for you, sweetie..."

And just like that, need took me again. I pulled her roughly to me and began to kiss her roughly... desperately. She bore down on me with her belly and thigh and started to drive her fingers in and out of me once more.

I was so keyed up, so aroused, still so hungry for her... I could feel that my body was still poised close to the knife-edge.

"Chloe," I panted. "Chloe, baby, I'm going to come again. I'm going to come. I'm going to... to..."

She laughed, exultant, as my back muscles locked and I began to grind and gyrate against her. I flailed at her, at the bed, at my breasts, my body, completely unable to control myself... screaming...

Then the broken panting, the wordless run-on entreaties, and the overwhelming glory of her slick fingers slipping excruciatingly slowly in and out of my thoroughly disordered body...

"Stop, stop, stop," I begged when I finally could. "You're... breaking me..."

And she slowly eased off. She lay quiescent against me for a moment or two before she gently eased herself out of my aching pussy.

I rolled clumsily onto my side, shivering as my body tried to digest what she'd just done to me.

She threw a warm arm over me and pulled herself in against my back.

And I stared at the wall and tried to remember how to move any muscle at all...

"Was that good?" she whispered.

"What do you think?" I groaned. "I'm... I don't think I'll be moving any time soon. I think all my fuses just blew. I'm..."

A rippling shudder ran through me, and she snorted.

"I like the way you reacted to me," she whispered. "You came so hard. I've... I've never had someone come like that for me..."

"I died. I literally died. You killed me dead."

"Stone dead? Really? That's a shame..."

She brushed her lips against my neck.

"Dodo dead." I squeaked, shuddering. "I'm... oh God... still having aftershocks..."

She laughed, and I whimpered as she kissed my neck again.

"Chloe?" I breathed.

"Uh huh."

"Um... I'd..."

"You'd what?"

"I'd like to... feel you. Um. If you'd like..."

"Mm. That does sound nice," she purred. "Roll over this way, then."

"Help, please... I've regressed to the amoeba stage."

She cackled, and then helped me over onto my back. I stared up at her, at the wonderful flush on her cheeks, at the perfect cornflower blue of her beautiful eyes...

"God, you're so pretty," I whispered.

"Stop flirting and start touching," she scolded me with a grin.

She shifted a leg to open herself, and took my hand, and put my fingers to her. She was naked under the nightdress, and the skin of her lips and inner thighs was wonderfully warm and soft.

And moist...

She shuddered as I slowly teased my fingertip along her soaking slit.

"Dawn," she hissed. "Don't be coy with me. I'm absolutely ready for you."

"I'm... out of practice," I moaned.

"You can practice on me whenever you want," she laughed. She opened herself wider, and guided me to her clit.

"Show me what you like..."

"Just touch. Just gentle like that. Nothing hard. Nothing too... uhn... fast at first..."

I slowly explored her velvety, soaking sex, and she curled in towards me, face pushed into my neck, each breath raising goosebumps on my hypersensitive skin...

"Like that," she moaned. "Oh, oh, your touch... oh I love your touch..."

I began to stroke my finger from the base of her clit to her slick inner lips. She began to moan softly, and her arm tightened around me. I stared at her, snatched quick looks at her small, pert breasts and their erect nipples before leaning in to gently, tenderly kiss her.

She grunted and I felt her convulse against me.

"Dawn," she moaned. "That's so good. What you're doing. Uhn... don't stop, baby, don't stop... just like that... just keep doing... uhn... that for me..."

She curled her leg over me, angling herself more towards me.

"Put that fingertip into me... each time..." she panted. "I love... I love this... this slow, hot... oh, oh Dawn..."

"Are you..."

"So... close..." she whimpered.

"You going to come for me?" I begged her.

"Uh huh."

"Hard?"

"Uh huh..."

"I want to feel it..."

"I'm... I'm gonna..."

She snatched a breath, and began to moan low and soft in her throat.

And with a pained gasp she clasped herself hard to me...

"Oh fuck me oh fuck me hard Dawn fuck me hard fuck me please..." she cried.

And I pushed my finger all the way into her and began to do just that.

And for fifteen beautiful breaths all that mattered was the way she gasped and writhed and panted my name.

.:.

"Chloe?" I whispered.

"Mm."

She moved against me and bubbles lapped around us.

"Just... checking you're still awake."

"I'm not. This bath is so amazing."

I felt her leg shift next to mine, and she leaned back further, letting her head rest against my shoulder.

She shivered as I slowly teased my fingers over and around her breasts.

"That's nice. I like those fingers of yours on me. Feel free to wash me all over. I'm jelly in your hands..."

I snorted. "I don't have the energy," I confessed. "You've... exhausted me."

She sighed. "Good. Glad you're pleased."

"Though I may be tender down... there... tomorrow though."

"I was probably a bit more... intense than I should have been. Sorry. But... I was so keyed up and you were begging..."

"I was, wasn't I," I agreed.

She laughed softly, and shifted her hand on my thigh. "I'm glad this bathtub fits both of us," she said. "Maybe we can do this again sometime."

"I'd... like that," I whispered.

"So would I."

She groaned as I slowly trailed my hands over her shoulders.

"God, you melt me," she whispered. "Everything about you melts every little bit of me."

"Stop flirting," I whispered. "You already got me into bed with you."

And she laughed.

"I'm going to fall asleep here," she said. "I think I'm going to get out now. And make my way to bed."

"Which bed?"

"Whichever one you want me in."

"I want you next to me."

I felt her sigh, and she lifted an arm to pull my face against her. "That sounds nice. Just be warned, I'm often... horny... in the early hours of the morning."

"You can do whatever you want to me," I whispered.

"Don't make promises etcetera etcetera..."

She groaned, and shifted off me. I watched as she gathered her legs under her and stood, and I got a lovely glimpse of her lips as she cautiously climbed out of the bathtub.

"I hope you're enjoying the view," she purred as she reached for her towel.

"So much."

"Good. I'm... glad you like it."

"You're really, stunningly gorgeous," I said softly.

She smiled down at me. "Takes one to know one," she whispered.

I quickly washed my face and neck as she towelled herself dry. She handed me my towel as I climbed out of the bath, and leaned in against me to kiss me once I'd wrapped myself in it.

Then, laughing softly, she helped to dry me.

"Come on, slowcoach," she said. "There's some spooning on my schedule and I'm eager to get to it."

And she brushed my curls away from my face, grinned at me and took my hand.

.:.

Morning came far sooner than I could have wished.

She was up and mobile before the sun was even fully up, and she bullied me out of bed with kisses.

We ate a quick early breakfast, and I helped her collect her things.

She leaned her bike against my front gate, and turned back to me.

"Time to go. Are you going to miss me?" she said, grinning.

I stared at her, loving the flames the early morning light kindled in her hair.

"You just have no idea," I breathed.

She pulled herself hard against me as she kissed me, and my heart felt like it was trying to burst through my chest from joy.

I snuggled in against her, panting softly, and she laughed as she gently stroked my hair.

"I could get used to how cuddly you are," she whispered.

"I can't get enough of you," I countered. "Am I going to see you again tonight?"

"I'll try. But I have early lectures tomorrow morning and I've got to work on that fucking essay rather than on your multiple orgasm tally. I may... I may not be able to do it tonight, but I'll phone you if I can't... is that okay with you?"

"It's fine. Really, it is. Ride safe. I miss you already."

"I miss you already more."

She pulled back and gently stroked my cheek. "Gosh, I love your smile," she whispered.

"Get going, you," I said. "Ride safe and watch out for fences."

She laughed again and turned away. "See you later, lover," she said throatily, as she threw her leg over her bicycle.

I blew her a kiss.

And I leaned languidly against my door frame, watching her cycle away, feeling as light as air.

I retreated to my kitchen table and brewed a cup of our Assam.

I eyed my desk, and the hated chair... then retrieved my laptop.

I set myself up at my kitchen counter.

And the light and the space around me summoned the words that had so long eluded me...

Hours passed in quick succession; the lighting outside changed each time I glanced up at my window.

A plaintive little miss me yet? arrived from her sometime around lunchtime, and I flushed - warm and grinning - as I sent her a Like the deserts miss the rain.

always did love that song. i won't be able to make it to u today :( too much to do here

I sighed.

I understand. Don't worry, I'll be here when you can x

can i call u later

I'd like that a lot I replied

x <3

And I smiled to myself that such a sweet creature had taken a shine to me.

And the words flowed like wine. Chapter three was now well on its way, and I felt the old knot of excitement in my chest as I realised that I'd found a plot line that had legs.

The happiness stayed with me well into evening, only to be replaced by sheer, unadulterated bliss as I closed my day with a long, soft, rambling conversation with her.

.:.

The day became days - days that drifted past to join the flotilla of weeks that disappeared downstream of us.

Chloe's life was often mired in lectures and deadlines, but she still managed to find time to sneak round for "Tea and cake" as she called it. She'd arrive, flushed and out of breath, laughing as I'd attack her and wrap my arms around her to pull her as close to me as I could. We'd sit at my kitchen counter and use whatever small slice of free time she'd clawed out of her day to drink our tea and be close to one another - nothing sexual... or at least, mostly nothing... just... presence.

Two young women, sitting beside one another, enjoying one another's company and, perhaps, holding hands.

Nothing could compare to the wild joy that would flash up in me when I heard her peculiar knock at my door - Chloe never texted me a warning that she was on her way, because as she put it she "enjoyed being a nice surprise."

One morning she brought a dressmaker's tape measure with her and took various measurements of my body while I shuddered and laughed at the way she'd "innocently" touch bits of me she really didn't need to be touching.

"Measuring me for my cage?" I'd asked her.

And she'd rolled her eyes and grinned.

Weekends were our time to devote solely to ourselves. She'd bring what work she had, and arrive at the house mid-to-late on Friday, and leave mid-to-late on Sunday.

We'd walk in my woods and the greenbelt around them or work in the garden, and she slowly taught me all the various things I needed to do to keep the house and borders in order.

And once we were done, we'd prepare food together, and eat it outside under "our tree" as she'd taken to calling it.

I'd fall asleep in her arms at night, and she'd gently nose me awake the next morning - somehow once even managing to prepare an entire breakfast spread and deliver it upstairs to our room before doing so.

I could not remember being happier.

"Dawn?" she said, one Wednesday evening, once our usual playful night-time phone flirtation had run its course.

"Uh huh?"

"Listen... I know you're extremely anti-crowd... but... a friend is having a post-deadline stress blow off digs party tomorrow night... and I've kind of committed to going."

"And..."

"... and he's told me to bring my plus one."

"You've... told people I'm your plus one?" I said softly, touched.

"I... may have let it slip..." she confessed. "I hope you don't mind..."

"No. I don't mind in the slightest."

"Oh. Good. Good. Anyway... would you like to come?"

"Won't I be... in the way?"

"No," she said softly. "Most emphatically not."

"Are... are you sure you want me there? I'm... I'm a complete wallflower, Chloe. I'm... older."

"You are not older. You're twenty six, Dawn, for fuck's sakes. You're practically still a teenager. And you're far more interesting than any of the other people who are going to be there, if that was lined up as your next objection."

I laughed.

"Well... do you want me there?"

"Yes."

"Then... I'll be there."

"Great. We're a jeans and tee shirt bunch so please don't worry about trying to make an effort, okay? They're a nice crowd. You'll like them, and I know they'll like you."

"Shall I pick you up?"

"That would be nice. I'd enjoy entering on your arm."

"Flirt," I whispered.

"For you? Totally," she answered, smugly.

.:.

"You must be Dawn."

I smiled shyly at the busty, rather good-looking brunette who'd flounced up to me shortly after our arrival.

A prior me might have immediately been hopelessly tongue-tied.

But current Dawn (with her full heart fortified by being a known plus one instead of a shag-on-the-side) could just about manage to be a woman and not a disaster for once...

"Hi. Yes."

"I'm Julia, but you can call me Jules like everyone else does," she bubbled. "So nice to meet you at last! Chloe's told us so much about you."

I glanced around for Chloe but to my minor irritation she'd already been absorbed into a mixed group near the bookshelves and was not available for deposition...

"Oh... oh dear... I'm sure all of it is wildly exaggerated..."

The brunette laughed, then took my arm and gently eased me away from the press. I shot a longing glance back towards Chloe, but she was deep in conversation with her tight knot of friends and didn't seem to notice my distress signals.

So I put a brave face on it as Julia smiled and questioned and delved and dug and laughed at the silly little bon mots I trotted out to cover my extreme awkwardness.

Other people breezed in and out of our conversation, smiling at Jules (who was clearly one of the social loci of the disjoint group) and soliciting her approval or disapproval on various topics I had little real interest in following.

Meanwhile, I deflected many curious questions about what I did with "Oh, I'm a struggling author."

Most lost interest quickly; everyone knew that particular plot and the penury that came with it. They'd all heard the clattering of the battered thirteen year old Vauxhall we'd arrived in...

And I'd been very selective with what I'd chosen to wear - nothing stood out, everything was unbranded and broken in, and I'd added only my tiny jet ankh on its tarnished silver chain by way of ornamentation.

So I was fairly confident that I'd camouflaged myself.

And I worked hard on not volunteering any more than I needed to, while still coming across as fun and open.

The last thing I wanted to do was to be remembered as "Chloe's bitchy new woman, whats-her-tits..."

Chloe came to me only once. She put her arm around my waist and held me to her briefly. I flushed pink and hot, unaccustomed to such public displays of affection. She, however, seemed unconcerned; she gave me a quick, bright smile and an extremely dramatic kiss to the cheek before finding another group to disappear into.

I watched her walk away for a bemused moment or two before Julia dragged me back into not-completely-willing conversation.

It became a strangely surreal evening. Overly-friendly little knots of people circled one another like sharks and there was a phenomenal amount of talking... but little of it seemed beyond the basic banal level one would make with colleagues.

Nobody really seemed to be saying anything.

Finally the veil was yanked aside; some offhand comments by one of Julia's satellites gave me the cipher I needed and I suddenly grasped that there were several different groups present. Chloe's friend's digsmates had apparently also invited their own circles to their own parties, and everyone was trying to skirt around the awkwardness of the strange mixing of people that confronted them.