The Bedtime Tales of Be287m

Friends and Benefits, Chapter Eighteen

I awoke with Christmas on my mind.  It was now early December and I hadn’t given it more thought than it took to book the plane tickets home.  Now I needed plans for a fancy dinner with Sharon.  And a present for her.  And for Tina too.

Tina.  She continued to slumber beside me, peacefully.  What was I going to get Tina for Christmas?

I realized that I’d never really expected to be celebrating Christmas with Tina.  I was supposed to have graduated and gotten the hell out of Tucson.  I’d be getting out soon enough, if I could find a job that is.

I needed to try to look for some jobs while I was back in Colorado.  Christmas wasn’t the best time to look, but I needed to at least start.

Besides, a job might be harder to find than I’d been willing to admit.  I was a newbie astronomer who hadn’t been able to finish his Ph.D.  What was the market for that, really, anywhere, much less in Colorado?

I sighed.  One step at a time, I supposed.  Get the resumé done.  Start figuring out possible employers.  Figure out if I could actually get an interview somewhere over Christmas vacation.

Christmas.  I needed to get presents.  Tina probably wasn’t that hard, I realized.  I could hit the mall and look for a necklace she’d like.  I’d done something like that for Alicia, and discovered that you could get some pretty nice jewelry without spending a lot.

Alicia.  My chest tightened and then I berated myself.  I was over her.  I’d moved on.  Definitely moved on, thanks to Tina and Sharon.

I still needed to get something for Sharon.  I didn’t want to give her erotica books, like I’d done last year.  What else did she want?

I ransacked my memory for any time Sharon had said what she wanted.  Nothing recent came to mind.  I cast back to earlier in the year and remembered the Santa Fe trip.  She’d admired the Steve Hanks poster of the nude woman under the shower.  I could get her that.  Even better—I knew someone who worked in a poster shop.  I decided to talk to Tina about it over breakfast.

Tina liked the idea when I mentioned it to her.

“I could use my employee discount and we could ship it to your parents’ house,” she said as we dallied over the remnants of our eggs and toast.

“What about framing it?” I asked.

“You better see where she wants to hang it first.”

“Hmmm.”

“So when are you heading back?”

“Wednesday after finals,” I said.  “I want a couple of days to shop for my family before Christmas.”

Tina nodded.  “My last final is Tuesday morning.   Want to spend Tuesday afternoon together?”

“What do you have in mind?”

Tina grinned and waggled her eyebrows.  “We’ll think of something.”

“Why wait?” I asked, leaning back.

Tina stood up.  “Why indeed?”

We left the dirty dishes and wandered back to the air mattress where we slowly made love until we’d both come.  Then we cuddled for a while before getting up to clean the kitchen.

* * *

“And here you’ve done the reverse,” Sherri said, gesturing to the now spotless table.  I’d cleaned while I talked, as Sherri sat and watched, growing more amused as I worked.

“What?”

“You said you wanted to go down on me.  I said we should wait until after we’d eaten, but then cleaning the kitchen first?”

I winced and closed my eyes.  “I took your answer to mean you didn’t want me to.”

“I didn’t say no.”

“But you went off on that Goddess Worship stuff….”

“Which I said we could do later.  That’s not the same as saying no to some simple oral sex.”

“Oh.”

Sherri smiled and didn’t say anything.

“Well, I supposed I should get started,” I said.  “Though I’m not sure it’s a B&C anymore, since we’ve finished breakfast.

Sherri chuckled.  “True.  The breakfast is a key part of it.”

I grinned.  “Brings a new meaning to breakfast in bed.”

“That would be a different type of B&B.”

“Yeah.  Which reminds me, is ‘B&B’ a regular term in your… field?”

Sherri raised an eyebrow and then shook her head.  “I got the term from a friend.  That’s what she called it before she demonstrated it.”

“Demonstrated it?  On a guy?”

Sherri’s smile turned impish.  “Uh huh.  Lucky guy too.  We took turns, once she showed me what he liked.”

I groaned.  “Gawd, I’m envious.”

“Of a double blowjob, or the full threesome?”

“Yes.”

Sherri chuckled.

“Was your friend… another professional?”

She shook her head.  “She’s someone I met in college.  Later, when I was going through a really rough time.  She… she helped.  She helped a lot.”  Sherri smiled weakly.  “Mostly by just being there and listening.”

“Ah.”

She took a breath, and then smiled more strongly.  “It’s okay.  It wasn’t all me crying on her shoulder.  We also had some fun.”  Her smile turned into a leer.

“If you ended up in a threesome, I would suspect so.”

“Oh, that was before.  And after, actually.”

“I’m jealous.”

“Well, what’s preventing you from arranging one for yourself?”

I started to explain, but then stopped.  I’d called the agency and asked for an escort.  I just as easily could have asked for two.

Except I’d been drunk then.  Would I have the courage to ask for one now?

I looked at her.  She smiled, but sat still.  She was waiting.

Waiting for me to make the next move.

“Get up,” I said.

Sherri raised an eyebrow, and then pushed her chair away from the table.

“Let’s go to the couch.  If I’m going to go down on you, I want to kneel on the carpet instead of the floor.”

Sherri chuckled and slowly walked over to the couch, shedding her clothes as she went.  This time I openly ogled her body as it came into view.  When she reached the couch, she turned and sat, spreading her legs.  She’d shaved her pubic region except for a small triangle on her mound.  She slid one hand down and began playing with her lower lips.

I gulped.  She’s had tons of guys go down on her.  I’m probably nowhere in their league.  What made me ask for this?

Because you were too scared to ask for another blowjob.

I could still enjoy this, though.  I sank to my knees in front of Sherri and took a breath as she pulled her hand away.

Her labia were full, almost pouty, and slightly parted.  I gently kissed her mound, and then the inside of each thigh.  Sherri let out a small purr.  I centered myself and licked her slit from bottom to top, before sucking lightly on her clit.

She was dryer than I’d expected, but that soon didn’t matter.  I licked long and deep, and Sherri’s whole pussy got wet enough for me to glide effortlessly across her skin.  She moaned when I thrust my tongue into her and again when I flicked her clit with the tip.  I glanced up while sucking her clit and saw her watching me, through half-lidded eyes.  She grinned and I returned to my ministrations.

Sherri’s clit had hardened under my sucking, but additional flicks didn’t seem to increase the intensity of her moans.  I brought one hand up and gingerly slid my finger inside her.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she said.

I turned it and crooked it, like I had done regularly with Tina.  Sherri let out a hiss and another moan, but then she fell quiet again.  I speeded up, licking harder and faster, stroking my finger to the same tempo.  She let out another moan, but it was soft and low.

I pulled back.  “You’re not going to get off, are you?”

She nodded.  “But that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying.”

I sat back on my haunches.  “I was hoping you’d come.”

Sherri sat up straight.  “Why does that matter?  It’s not a reflection on you.  I don’t come for a lot of guys.  But I enjoy it, and you enjoyed it.”

“Yeah.”

“Besides, you asked for it.  It’s what you wanted.”

I snorted.

“Well, is it?”

“It’s what I asked for,” I said, “but I’m not sure it’s what I wanted.  I mean, it was and it wasn’t.  In fact….”

A light flickered in my brain.

“…I think part of the reason I have trouble asking for what I want is that I’m not sure what I want.”

“Like?”

“Like, I wanted to be a good guy and return the favor from the other day.  And at the same time, what I really wanted was another blowjob.  But I didn’t think I could ask for it.”  I glanced up at Sherri, to see if she was mad, but she was smiling.

“But I don’t think it’s just now,” I continued.  “I mean, I think it’s more often than that.  Like with Tina before Christmas.  I wasn’t sure what I really wanted when she came over before I left.  I mean, did I just want the sex?  Did I want something deeper?  Did I want to just get the hell out of town?”

“Why don’t you tell me about it.”

“Okay…”

* * *

I did a lot of second-guessing when I went to buy Tina’s Christmas present.  What would be too nice?  What wouldn’t be nice enough?  What would be too romantic, to be from a guy who was trying to leave town soon?  What wouldn’t be romantic enough?  In the end, I settled for a fairly nice gold filigree necklace with some small colored stones.

Tuesday afternoon, Tina arrived carrying two gift-wrapped boxes.  I smiled.  We hadn’t discussed exchanging presents, but my gift for her sat in its own box on the table.  We exchanged a deep kiss at the door before returning to the kitchen and sinking into the chairs.

“Merry Christmas,” I said, sliding the box toward her.

“Oh, you first.”  She pushed her own packages toward me.

I paused and raised my eyebrows.  Tina nodded, and I decided not to argue about who was first.  I flipped the first box over and began tearing the paper off.

“The other one first,” Tina said.

I nodded and switched packages.  This one was clearly a book.  I tore the paper off and flipped it over to the title.  Video Guide, 1992, by Martin and Porter.  I thumbed through the pages.  It covered just about every film I could immediately think of.

“Wow,” I said.

“I thought we might use it for movie nights.”

“That’d be good,” I said.  “We can always use more ideas.”

Tina fidgeted as I reached for the next box.  “I hope you like it.”

I smiled reassuringly as I removed the wrapping paper.  “I’m sure I will.”

The box held a three ring binder.  The cover had a picture cut from a magazine of an extravagant dinner.  Block lettering declared it the Miller-Delgado Cookbook.

“It contains every recipe we’ve cooked together,” Tina said.

I paused, digesting that.  “Every one?”

“Well, except for a couple from your cookbook.  But we can photocopy those and add them.”

I nodded and opened the notebook to the first page. Tina had duplicated the cover to serve as a title page, but added a dedication.

“That’s really nice,” I said, looking up.  “Really, really nice.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.  I’m blown away.”  I was.  This had to have been a ton of work.

“I’m glad.”  She reached across the table and took my hand.  “Can you believe we’ve been cooking together for a year?”

“That’s pretty impressive.”

“Yeah.”

“So, how would you like to celebrate?” I asked.

Tina shrugged.  “We could cook something special for dinner tonight, but I’m not sure what.  And I don’t think we want leftovers.”

I nodded.  “I don’t mind going out.  Or we could order pizza.”

“Pizza would be nice.”

“So what should we do until then?” I asked in mock innocence, my eyes wide.

“Have appetizers?” Tina teased.

“Sounds like a great idea.  But first, you need to open your present.”

Tina tore the paper off the small box and cast it aside.  Her eyes widened when she saw it was a jewelry box, and she fumbled with the lid before opening it.

“Oh!  It’s beautiful!”  She extracted the necklace from the box. and let the chain slide through her fingers, admiring it.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I need to put it on.”

I nodded and followed her to the bathroom, where I stood behind her as she faced the mirror.  She had little difficulty with the clasp and soon had it in place. 

I slid my arms around her.  “It looks beautiful on you.”

“It is beautiful.”  She turned and kissed me.  “Thank you.”

I kissed her back.  “You’re welcome.  And thank you for your presents.”

Tina kissed me again.  One kiss turned into another, and then I took Tina’s hand and led her toward the bedroom.

We kissed passionately as we slowly undressed and then stretched out on the bed.  We continued to kiss, just lying there on our sides, our arms around each other.  Eventually, we shifted so that I could support my head on my arm while I ran the other hand down her side and hip.  I couldn’t quite turn things to caress her front, so I slowly rolled her on her back, only breaking the kiss near the end.  I pulled back and grinned at her.

“I believe you suggested appetizers?”

Before Tina could respond, I lowered my mouth to her nipple.  I kissed it quickly before sucking it into my mouth.  As I nuzzled her breast, I brought my hand up to caress the other one.

Tina purred and stretched a little, clasping her arms above her head.  I took that as a signal to keep going.

I alternated kissing her breast, around the nipple, then along the underside and toward her neck.  After a while, I realized her other breast was being neglected, and slowly shifted on top of her so I could give it its fair due.

Tina purred again, particularly when I flicked my tongue across her skin.  Like a kitten, I mused.  Both of  us—me in licking, her in purring.

Tina continued to purr as I kissed my way down her belly and then across her mound.  I shifted so she could put her legs over my shoulders and then ran my tongue up her slit and kissed her clit.

Tina shuddered.  She was already quite wet.  After a handful of kisses and licks, I slid a finger inside her and she moaned.  Her breath grew shorter and she moaned softly as I sucked her clit and curled my finger inside her.  I sped up slightly, and she gasped and arched her back.  I flicked her clit with my tongue, maintaining the suction, and using the same rhythm I used with my fingers.  Tina began panting and, then, with a loud moan, went stiff and came.  I kissed her mound a few more times before sliding up next to her on the bed.  I waited until she’d caught her breath and was able to focus on me, her smile growing, relaxed and warm.

“Definitely good appetizers,” I said.

Tina chuckled.  “Let me catch my breath and I’ll return the favor.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

I shrugged.  I really just wanted to grab a condom and enter her, but if she wanted to go down on me…

We continued to cuddle for a few minutes, me on my back and Tina with her head on my shoulder.  She gently ran her hand over my chest as she snuggled in.  After a few minutes, her hand roamed lower, until she eventually just wrapped her fingers around my cock and began stroking me.

“Feel good?” she asked after a little while.  I hesitated.  I didn’t want to say that it only felt good three out of four strokes, because she was squeezing just a little tight, catching my skin.  But Tina noticed my pause.

“Yeah,” I said.  “Though you’ll have to be a little more gentle.  Or we need to get some lube.”

She grinned.  “I can add some lube.”  With a grin, she shifted and took my cock into her mouth.

Tina’s lips and tongue felt good, but I quickly knew I wasn’t going to come.  She bobbed her head and brought her hand up to caress my balls, but it still felt like just a really good massage.  After several minutes, she seemed to figure it out too, and pulled back.

“What should I do?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know.”

She sighed.  “I really wish I knew what to do.”

“That’s okay,” I said, pulling her up next to me.  “I like the fact that you try.”  I kissed her lightly.  “Besides, there are other things we can do.”

Tina sighed, but also frowned in frustration.

“Besides,” I said, trying to keep my voice light, “we both like the main course.”

I reached for a condom and Tina smiled and nodded.  As she shifted to the middle of the bed, I stroked myself back to hard.  Then I rolled the condom on, knelt between her thighs, and placed the tip of my cock against her opening.

She reached down and slowly guided me in.  As always, she was hot and wet and tight.  I held still for a moment, and then kissed her before beginning to thrust.

Tina gasped and moaned immediately.  She hungrily sought my own mouth, kissing me and pushing her tongue between my lips.  I speeded up my thrusts and she wrapped her legs around me, pulling me in deeper.  I speeded up again, and my own gasps joined her moans.  She trembled, kissing me harder.  My balls started tingling and I fought to hold the pressure down, determined that she should come first.  I thrust hard three more times and that did the trick.  Tina gasped and went stiff, letting out a long moan into my shoulder.  Two more thrusts and I boiled over—loosing my own orgasm deep inside her.

After I’d disposed of the condom, we cuddled on the bed, catching our breath.

“I told you we were good at the main course,” I teased, kissing her forehead.

“Mmm,” she replied, just snuggling in tighter.

“When do you want pizza?” I asked.

“Not yet.”

“Another round first?”

“Yeah, but I want to just be held for a while.”

I caressed Tina’s back and gave her an acknowledging hug.

We lay there, flesh against flesh, for some time.  Then, our idle caresses turned more sensual and then direct.  This time, Tina straddled me and rode me until we’d both come, me playing with her breasts as she did.  Feeling sticky, we decided to take a quick shower before ordering the pizza, but that stretched out as we washed each other and Tina tried once again to blow me.  She didn’t spend long at it though, before we got out and toweled off. 

We remained naked until the pizza arrived, when I slipped on a robe, and Tina wrapped a towel around herself, much to the disappointment of the delivery guy.  After dinner, we had sex again, though only Tina came.  We took a break for ice cream, and then, after some teasing, got the air mattress down for one final round before we collapsed and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning, Tina had to say goodbye all too soon.  I’d planned to take her to breakfast on our final morning before the break, but we didn’t make it out the door in time.  Instead, we shared a long hug at the door before she headed back to her own dorm.

“I’ll be thinking of you a lot over vacation,” she said while we held each other tight.

“And I’ll be thinking of you.” I replied.  “And I’ll call.  Not just on Christmas, but when I can.”

“Good.”

I pulled back and smiled at Tina.  She managed to return my smile, though she didn’t want to meet my eyes.  I put my finger under my chin and lifted her head.  Her eyes were wet.

“Hey,” I said, “I’ll miss you too.”

Tina nodded and shook my hand off.  She took a breath and gave me another hug.

“It’s just a vacation,” she said.

“Yeah.”

She gave me another squeeze and pulled back, her eyes clear now.  “Talk you soon.”

“You bet.”

We kissed one more time and then Tina left.  I took a deep breath and then started packing for my own departure.

* * *

“So, did you get what you wanted?” Sherri asked.  I’d moved onto the couch next to me, and she had leaned into me while I talked, her head against my shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I said.  “It was more bittersweet than I’d expected.  I mean, the sex was great, and I was blown away by her gifts, but… but I was still leaving.  And I knew that this wasn’t just a vacation where I’d be coming back, but a vacation where I was trying to find a permanent job.

“But you didn’t tell her that.”

“No.  Maybe I should have, but I didn’t tell her about my job hunting plans back in Colorado.  I didn’t want to hurt her.”

“Honesty doesn’t hurt as much as not knowing.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said.  “Sharon was pretty honest about me not being boyfriend material, and that hurt a lot.”

“Mmm.”

I couldn’t tell whether that was a supportive noise or disagreement.  “Of course, Sharon wasn’t always clear.  Let me tell you about our fancy dinner….”

* * *

By the time I’d arrived in Boulder, I’d largely put the farewell conversation with Tina out of my mind.  I had called her the day after I’d arrived in Colorado, but since we’d just seen each other, we didn’t have much to say.  After that, I focused on getting my shopping done for Christmas and getting organized for my job search.  All too soon, it was Saturday and time for my dinner with Sharon.

As I got dressed in my suit, I didn’t quite know what to think about the evening.  On the one hand, I liked going out for fine dining, and we’d have fun.  I also knew that Sharon didn’t see this as a real date.  She’d had a few of those this past semester and this was just a consolation for a string of bad luck with the guys.

Except it still felt like a date.  I was dressed as best I could manage, wearing a dash of cologne, and carrying a very large gift-wrapped package.  Admittedly, it wasn’t very heavy, or thick, since Tina had insisted that I not leave the poster rolled up longer than necessary.  I’d found that sandwiching it between two flattened boxes worked well. It was still an awkward-shaped gift, though.

Which Sharon remarked on immediately upon opening the door.  “Awful big and flat.”

“You’ll see,” I said, my voice lilting in a tease.

“Well, set it in the living room,” she said.  “I’m not quite ready.”

One of the eternal mysteries of women is how they can be “not quite ready” when their appearance seems perfect to the man.  Sharon’s “little black dress” was tight at her waist, pulling the fabric tight across her breasts.  The hem stopped two inches above her knees, revealing black hose and pumps.  Her hair was already curled and blow dried, and she wore new diamond earrings.  I had no idea what wasn’t “quite ready.”

Nonetheless, Sharon slipped away to get ready while I set the poster against one wall.  When she returned, I couldn’t honestly tell what she’d done.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Ready when you are.”

“Then let’s go.”

I hadn’t wanted to work too hard to pick a restaurant, so we went to an old favorite, The Little Russian Café, on the Pearl Street Mall.  I loved their stroganoff and verenki and I knew Sharon liked their borscht.  I ordered us a bottle of wine before Sharon could speak up.

“Uh, how about doing some of the flavored vodkas?” she asked.

I shrugged.  “I’m not a huge vodka fan, but you can.  We’ll be here for a while.”

She nodded and promptly ordered a garlic-flavored shot and a pepper-flavored shot.  I toyed with canceling the bottle, but decided that that’d make me look cheap.  In the end, I finished most of the bottle before dessert anyway, as Sharon worked her way through a half dozen flavored shots.

“I really shouldn’t drive,” I said, as we sipped coffee over dessert, several hours after we’d begun the meal.

“It’s not far,” she said.  “We’ll be careful.”

I grimaced.

“We could call a cab,” she said, “but they’re expensive.  Or we could walk around Pearl Street for a while until you’re okay to drive.”

Walking sounded okay, so I agreed.  Unfortunately, it was cold out.  We barely got to Broadway before Sharon wanted to turn back.  I felt a lot more sober after sucking in the freezing air, so I agreed.

Back at her apartment, Sharon immediately headed for the kitchen.  I followed after kicking off my shoes.

“I found a Muscat you’d like,” she said, brandishing the bottle.  “Since we don’t have to do anymore driving tonight…”

I nodded and she uncorked the bottle, pouring us two glasses.

“This is quite good,” I said.  Orange and sweet, it was definitely a dessert wine.

“It’s one thing I got from Tony.”

“Tony?”

Sharon waved a hand dismissively.  “Three dates and out this semester.  But he introduced me to this.”

“Glad he was good for something,” I said, reading the label once again.

Sharon refilled our glasses and motioned for me to follow her to the living room.  As a settled onto the couch, she disappeared down the hall.  She returned, standing in front of her, holding something behind her.

“Here’s your present,” she said, handing me a gift-wrapped box.  It was heavy—books, I guessed.

“Well, open it.”

I tore the paper off and lifted the lid.  It was indeed books—two of them.  Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game and The Illustrated Kama Sutra.  I flipped through the latter.  The ‘illustrations’ weren’t sketches like I’d expected, but photographs.  You couldn’t see the penetration, but both models were fully nude.

“I thought you and Tina might like trying some of the positions,” Sharon said.

I raised my eyebrows.  “Maybe.  But I remember the line from The Hotel New Hampshire.  Some of those positions hurt.”

“Oh, they can’t be that bad.”

“Really?”  I held up a picture where the woman clung to man, her body completely suspended from him.  “I think this would get hard on my arms.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be that bad.  Most of her weight’s going to be on his hips.”

“Which would make it hard to thrust.”

Sharon frowned.  “You’re certainly pessimistic.”

I shrugged.  I flipped through a few more pages until I came across a picture of the woman sitting in the man’s lap with her legs wrapped around him.  They were kissing. 

“This could be nice,” I said.

“Let me see.”

Before I could tilt the book to show her, Sharon moved next to me on the couch.  With the book on my lap, she could see quite well just by leaning in.

“Oh, that would be nice.  I’d like that.”

“You’d probably like this too.”  I flipped to a page showing the couple going at it doggie style.

“Oh, god yes.  That’d work for me.”

I chuckled.  “Me too.”

Sharon put her hand on the book.  “I haven’t actually gone through this. Do you mind?”

“No.  Not if you don’t mind going through them together.”

“Let’s start at the beginning.”

I nodded and took another sip of Muscat before flipping to the beginning of the book.  We slowly turned the pages, each commenting on the pictures.  Sharon liked the ones that involved kissing or some variant of the woman being taken from behind.  I liked the ones that showed off the female model to the fullest, and particularly the ones where she seemed to be enjoying herself.

“I wish they’d been more explicit in this one,” she said when we turned to a picture of a woman giving a blowjob.  Her head obscured the view, so it wasn’t clear if she was actually doing it or just posing.

“Why?”

“I’m curious.  Is she doing anything special?”

“I’m sure she is,” I said.  “But what would you learn?  You’re pretty good already.”

Sharon nodded.  “But it’s not that hard to be good.”

“I wish that were true.  Tina’s still having problems.  Of course, maybe it’s me.  She tried again, you know, just before break, and, well… I think she’s as frustrated as I am.”

“So give her some direction.”

“It’s not that easy,” I said.  “I mean, I know what feels good, but I’m not sure what to tell her to actually do.”

“Maybe you can get a book.”

I shrugged.  “Maybe.  I’m not sure if there’s one that would be good.”

Sharon smiled and closed the book we were holding.  “Well, this one isn’t a lot of help for blowjobs.  But I’ll keep my eyes out.”  She waggled her eyebrows.

I chuckled.  “Sounds good.  Unless, of course, you decide to write your own.”

“I might just do that.”

I snorted in laughter.  Sharon just smiled at me, amused.  Then she closed the Kama Sutra and set it aside.  She looked at me expectantly.

“Ahh…” I reached for her package and passed it to her.

Sharon quickly just slit the tape with her fingernail.  She pulled the paper and cardboard aside, revealing the lady under the shower.

“Oh, I love it!”

“I thought you might,” I said.  “You certainly admired it in Santa Fe.”

“I did.  And I do like it.”  Sharon glanced over at me.  “I already know where I’m going to hang it.  It’ll go great on the back wall of the bathroom.”

“You’ll need to get it sealed to protect it from the humidity.”  At least that’s what Tina had told me.

Sharon just nodded, still looking at the poster.

“So, what do you like about it?” I asked.

“The colors.  Her pose.  It’s sexy without being too much, you know?”

“I think so.  More sensual than hard core.”

“Yeah.”  Sharon paused and then grinned.  “Of course, it also reminds me of showers that were hard core.”

“With Allen?”

“Who else?  But don’t worry, I’m over him.”

“Okay.”

Sharon stood up.  “Let’s see how this looks in the bathroom.”  She strode toward the hall, with me a few feet behind.

The wall Sharon had picked was currently bare.  It faced the tub, ensuring that anyone taking a bath would see whatever hung on it.  Sharon held the poster against the wall, shifting it around.  She turned to me.

“Can you hold this?” she asked.  “I want to see how it looks.”

“Sure.”  I stepped forward and pressed my hand against the corners of the print while Sharon moved back.

She frowned.  “Can you move it up a little?”

I complied, and then shifted it a few more times per Sharon’s directions.  She spent a long time between shifts looking at it, which I didn’t understand, since we weren’t going to hang it right then anyway.  As a result, my attention wandered.

My eyes fell on the nearby tub and settled on the shower head.  It was now a shower massage head, unlike a year ago.

“You’ve got a new shower head,” I said.

Sharon turned and looked, and then looked back.  “Yeah, that one’s more versatile.”

“Versatile?” I teased.  “Is that your name for the massage setting?”

She chuckled.  “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

“I’ll bet.”  I titled my head toward the print I was holding.  “But the old one’s closer to the picture.”

Sharon glanced back and forth between the two.

“I don’t know,” she said.  “I think either would be good.”

“Nah,” I said.  “The one in the picture’s got a broader spray.  It does a better job of spreading the water into streams on her back.”

“Mine would do the same.”

“I don’t think so.”

Sharon put her hands on her hips and started at the shower for a moment.  Then she turned to me.

“Why don’t you put that,” she indicated the poster, “in the living room and meet me back here?”

“Okay.”

I carried the poster back into the living room, where I laid it on the floor near one wall.  Our wine was still on the end table, so I took a swig from my glass and picked up Sharon’s.  I refilled them both and took them with me when I returned to the bathroom.  I had just set the glasses down on the counter when Sharon came in behind me.

“Here,” she said, placing her camera in my hands.

I did a double-take.  Sharon was wearing a robe.

“Let me get the water hot.”  She turned and began adjusting the faucets.  She aimed the shower at the far wall so she wouldn’t spray the floor.

“You want me to….”

“Take pictures,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.  “Yeah.  Let’s see if we can get a shot like the poster.”

I wanted to ask why, but I wasn’t stupid.  This was a gift horse out of left field.  Or a bolt from the blue light.  Hell, I could straighten my metaphors out later.

Sharon turned and smiled at me while the steam began to rise.  Her eyes fell on her wine glass on the counter.

“Oh, good, you brought it in.”

I nodded, my brain still churning.

Sharon reached past me and picked up the glass.  She took a big swig and handed the glass to me.

“Ready?” she asked.

I nodded again.

Sharon turned so she was once again facing away from me.  Then she shrugged her shoulders and let the robe slide to the floor.  With my eyes glued to her ass, she stepped into the spray.

Sharon’s ass was smooth, with her flesh curving gently into her back.  Her hips flared, but weren’t so wide as to pull my eyes away from the curve of her cheeks.  But then she twirled, getting herself completely wet.  I immediately moved my eyes back to her face.  Sharon shot me a grin that was halfway between a leer and a laugh.

“You gonna start taking pictures?”

I snorted and raised the camera.  “Absolutely.”

“I think this was the pose.”  She stepped directly under the shower head, facing away, and then ran her hands slowly over her head as the water cascaded through her hair and down her back.

I snapped two pictures before her fingers had gone as far as they could without her arms turning into pretzels.  I shifted to get more of her profile and took more pictures as she repeated the motion.  I was confident that at least one would be very good.

“Look at the camera,” I said.

Sharon looked over her shoulder and her expression settled into sultry.  She ran her fingers down her side and then placed her other hand on the wall for balance.   I continued snapping as she leaned forward, which thrust her ass out.

The lens was getting fogged by the steam.  “I gotta clean this.”

Sharon nodded and turned the hot water down.  Then she did another pirouette under the spray as I rubbed the front lens with my shirt tail.  I looked up at just the wrong time--I missed seeing her breasts as she turned.  But at least the lens was clear.  I checked the picture count.

“Assuming this is a 24 exposure roll, we’ve got about eight shots left.”  I’d only taken about eight, so she must have had some other stuff on the roll before we’d started.

“What do you want to take?”

I paused.  Could I suggest it?  I had nothing to lose.  “How about some with you facing the camera?” I suggested, as casually as I could.  “You know, arch your back like you were doing, but let the water run down your shoulder and breasts.”

Sharon grinned and nearly laughed before nodding.  “Sure.”

She turned and took my breath away.  Her breasts were fuller than I’d expected from our lingerie shoots, with smaller areolae and nipples.  Not that I stared at them, really, but I did have to frame the shot through the viewfinder.  And that meant focusing on the rivulets of water that streamed across her curves and down her cleavage.  Besides, with her head tilted back, Sharon couldn’t tell I was staring anyway.

I took one close-up of her breasts and then backed up a little and shot two more of her entire body.  Sharon slowly swayed, turning her torso slightly, and I took another shot.  Then she eased her hands up her stomach.  My breath shortened as they drew closer to her breasts, but she didn’t stop there, and instead ran her fingers up to her shoulders and then into her hair again.

I’d been so busy watching, I hadn’t taken a picture.  I was also uncomfortably hard.

“Do that again,” I said, a little more breathlessly than I wanted to.

“What?”

“With your hands.  That was hot.”

Sharon laughed, but dropped her fingers back to her side.  “Really hot?” she asked.

“Incredibly hot,” I said.  “Hot enough to make a man forget about other women.”

“Really?”  Sharon chuckled.  “Then we’d better do it again.”

Her moves were more seductive this time—slower and more deliberate.  She pushed her hair back from her face and tilted her head, smiling at the camera, while her fingers traced their way up her skin.  I got one shot just before her hand reached her breast and another as she trailed her fingertips between them.

I paused and checked the film counter.  “Only one more.  Unless you have another roll.”

Sharon shook her head.  “No, that’s it.”

“So what should the final shot be?”

“One that Allen liked.  The pose, at least.”

With that, Sharon turned to the side wall of the shower, bent at the waist, and leaned her upper body against the tile.  Doing so thrust her ass toward me.  She spread her legs slightly, which gave me teasing glimpses of her pussy.  Then she looked back over her shoulder and leered.

I took the picture.

“That was really hot,” I said, as I rewound the film.  Sharon returned to just standing under the spray.

“Allen liked it.  He said it got him hard in an instant.”

“It got me hard.”

“Really?”  Sharon raised her eyebrows.

I snorted.  “Don’t believe me?”

Sharon’s eyes trailed down my body to my crotch.  Contrary to popular pornography, my pants were too tight for there to be a “tent,” as my erection was firmly up against my belly.  I knew there’d be a bulge, but I didn’t know how prominent it was.

Sharon’s eyes met mine again and she raised one eyebrow.

I fumbled for my belt.

“Don’t.”

I froze.  I looked up at Sharon, questioningly.

She frowned back, but her eyes were too unfocused to be harsh.

Then she turned and switched the showerhead from spray to massage.  “I’m going to finish up.  I’ll meet you in the living room.”

She then pulled the curtain, leaving me standing next to the sink, my hands still on my belt.  As I let go and gathered up the wine glasses, I heard Sharon fumbling with the showerhead, probably redirecting its aim.

There didn’t seem to be much else to do.  I headed into the living room to wait.

--Fin--

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Read the next chapter in this story: Chapter Nineteen

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