
THE MEASURE OF MAN

An Epic by Gil Gamesh

Chapter Forty

As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the measure of man.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Kieran Stuart, 43; Siobhan Stuart, 42; Arial Stuart, 15; Kerry Stuart, 12 

Brad Weaver, 17

TELLING THE STORY:
Arial Stuart

<><><>

 (ARIAL) 

Friday night, after dinner, I asked Mom to chase everybody else out of the kitchen so I could talk to her while we cleaned up. When the rest of the family left, I told her about my plans.

“Mom, Brad’s coming over tomorrow morning to stay until Sunday afternoon. I want to do it with him Saturday night.”

She looked at me for a minute or so like she was thinking about what to say. 

“The last time we talked, I think you said you and Brad had done pretty much everything except ‘it’. I assume you meant he hasn’t had his penis in your vagina.”

I giggled. Since when was she a stickler for the scientific terms? “No, Mom, I mean he hasn’t had his dick in my cunt.”

She giggled too. “Come on, Arial, I don’t believe you. You’re telling me he hasn’t had his pecker in your pussy?”

“It’s true, Mom! The only thing he’s had in my pussy is his fingers and tongue.”

 She stopped laughing and just smiled at me. “Is he a good lover, Princess?”

I knew it was time to be serious. “I think so. We’re having lots of fun and we’re both learning about each other. He doesn’t have much experience with girls.”

“Does he know how to satisfy you? To make sure you have orgasms? He doesn’t go off and leave you wanting?”

“Yes, he’s always considerate of me. You remember last Saturday, I told Dad that Brad and Kerry had been trying to drive me crazy all day - well, they took turns going down on me and when I came I think I almost fainted.”

“Kerry said you three got in the Jacuzzi. You all three fooled around too?”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

“What did Brad think about having Kerry involved?”

“I think he was OK with it.”

“Does he understand that a woman doesn’t necessarily have orgasms from vaginal intercourse, that he may have to lend you a hand or maybe a tongue to help you come?”

“I think so. So far he’s a good learner. I’ll make sure I teach him what I want him to know.”

“It’s important, Princess. That’s one thing that makes your father such a good lover. If he comes inside me before I do, he’ll use his fingers or mouth to give me an orgasm too. He’s always loved to get his mouth down there and he’ll use his tongue on my clit no matter how big a mess he’s made in my pussy. Some men just want to roll over and go to sleep after they get theirs.”

“Maybe I’ll just see what he’s willing to do tomorrow night,” I said.

“I know you said you were going to wait until Thanksgiving. It’s just a few more days. What made you change your mind?”

“I don’t know. I just want to do it. I’m all mixed up sometimes. I think I love him but I know we’re too young to be getting serious with each other. It’s just that I wish I could be with him the rest of my life. Last time we were fooling around, I wanted to feel him inside me so bad I almost cried. Am I making any sense?”

“Yes, Princess, you’re making perfect sense. You’re just a normal young girl trying to learn what it’s like to love a man. Don’t make a problem out of it.”

“I won’t. He’s always so sweet and nice to me. I tease him more than I should and he never gets mad at me. He treats me nicer than I deserve. I told you we talked about waiting until after I’d been on birth control for a couple of months; well, he’s the one who’s held to that. I’d have done it already if he hadn’t held back. He says it’s just too important for us to do it without thinking.”

“He’s right, you know. Most guys would probably have sex with you without worrying the least bit about the consequences.”

“I told him how you got pregnant with Kerry, how the antibiotic made your birth control pill fail. I asked him what he’d do if I got pregnant.”

“What did he say?”

“Exactly the right thing. He said he’d marry me, we’d keep the baby, we’d raise a family of beautiful kids together, and he’d be the happiest man alive.”

“Sounds just like your Father.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You know it’s OK with your Father and me for you to sleep with Brad, to have sex with him. We’ve always tried to be honest about sex and love with you. Kieran and I both think you’ve shown a lot of maturity with Brad. What’s bothering you about going the rest of the way?”

“I don’t know. It’s just such a big step. We’re so young and I know we’re not ready to assume the responsibility for our lives yet. I just want you and Dad to know how I feel so you won’t be disappointed with me.”

“Arial, we’ve never been disappointed with you. I don’t think we ever could be. Now, tell me what I can do so you young lovers have a good night together.”

“Nothing, I guess. Don’t come running if I yell. Don’t let Kavan and Kerry tease me and Brad. I’d just like to have a quiet peaceful time with him.”

“Kavan and Kathryn will be working at the plant nursery tomorrow until five. They’ll be home after that just long enough to bathe and then they’re going to a party. When they come home, they’ll be too tired to bother anybody.”

“What about Kerry? I love him to pieces but he’s so full of mischief sometimes.”

“Does he know what you and Brad are planning?”

“Yeah, but Brad doesn’t know yet. I just decided this week.”

“You were supposed to have your period this week, weren’t you? Will that be finished?”

“It started last Sunday night, just like the info sheet for the birth control pill said it should. No problems. I’m OK now.”

“Kerry’s already made sure he won’t be a problem for you. When I came home this afternoon, he asked me if he could go spend the weekend with Stuart and Joanne again. I asked him if Stuart had invited him. He said he hadn’t but he’d told him he wanted him to come back anytime so they could work on some research stuff together. Kerry called him before dinner and got an invitation. I’m dropping him off before noon tomorrow.”

That made me stop and think for a minute. I just shook my head in amazement. I guess Mom knew how I felt. She usually does.

“What?”

“It’s just Kerry. He’d the most lovable little brother any girl could ever have. I guess I’ll always wonder how he can give so much love to other people.”

“I feel the same way about him, Arial. All of us have loved him so much he could have become spoiled by it and never think of anybody but himself. Instead, he gives back so much love it amazes me.”

“What are you and Dad doing tomorrow night?”

“We talked about going out to dinner. Do you think Brad would like to go? Could you two wait until after that to do it? I promise not to call you on Sunday morning.”

“Where would we go?”

“A little Italian place your Dad and I know. It’s dark and quiet and all the booths are sort of private. It’s the sort of romantic place where lovers can look into each other’s eyes and think about what they’re going to be doing later that night.”

“Will you and Dad be thinking about it?”

“Yes, Princess. We’re still lovers, you know. I wish I could open my heart and let you in so you could see how much I love your Dad. They have cloths on the table and you can put your hand under it, on Brad’s cock, and tease him. I’ll do it to your Dad if you’ll do it to Brad. Is it a deal?”

I knew Mom would understand if I talked to her. I hugged her and she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.

“I just hope Brad doesn’t come in his pants,” I said.

<><><>

Saturday morning, Brad rang the bell at the front door about mid-morning. I’d asked him to wear some old clothes so we could take a walk and to bring something nicer for when we went out to dinner. He didn’t complain when I asked him to go to dinner with my parents but he said he hoped it was a place where he didn’t have to dress up. I’d told him the clothes he wore to school would be OK.

When I answered the door, I saw he had khakis and an oxford dress shirt in a plastic bag and a pair of loafers in his hand. I led him down the hall to my room and opened the door to my closet. I pushed my clothes down a little on the rack so there was room for his. He stood looking at my closet for a moment – it was as neat and organized as his - and then hung up his clothes and put his shoes on the floor.

He took off his big parka, the one he wore to school on really cold days, and looked in my closet again. I guessed he was looking for a hanger for his coat. I took it from him and tossed it on my bed. 

“I’m not a total neat-freak,” I said. But I didn’t tell him I’d already made up my bed with clean linen, the nicest ones I had. 

“Where’s everybody?” he asked.

“Kavan and Kathryn have been gone since before eight. They’re working again today. Mom’s taking Kerry over to stay with Stuart and Joanne for a couple of days. Dad’s around here somewhere.”

I took his hand and led him to the kitchen. I’d made a fresh pot of coffee just before he rang the bell because Dad asked me to. I didn’t tell anybody but I made it with just de-caf so I could have some too.

Brad did the same thing he usually did when we had a minute alone - he hugged me. He pulled me against him, spread his legs wide so he was shorter, and wrapped his long arms around me. I put my arms around his waist and tried to bury my face in the side of his neck. After a minute or so, he cupped his hands around my buns and pulled me against him tighter.

We were standing like that when Dad came in from the family room. He had on sweats with just socks and I guess Brad didn’t hear him until he spoke.

“Good morning, Brad.”

Brad almost jumped. His hands quickly left my buns and moved up to my waist.

“Good morning, Mr. Stuart,” he said.

Dad put his coffee cup down on the counter and walked over beside us. I wondered what he was doing and then I felt one of Brad’s hands on my fanny again. When Dad took hold of my wrist and moved my hand down so it was on Brad’s butt, I knew what he was doing. He walked around on the opposite side, moved my hand, and then moved Brad’s so we were both cupping each other’s behind.

 “Equal opportunity groping,” he said, and then poured himself another cup of coffee and left us standing in the middle of the kitchen.

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Mom was back by lunchtime and the four of us had sandwiches together. Afterwards, I asked Brad if he’d go for a walk with me. I’d always liked to go to the remains of the old church building down on the bottomland near the creek behind our house. There wasn’t much of the old building left except the stone floor and parts of two walls. Dad said it had been built about a hundred years ago and had been washed away in a flood in the 1930’s. It was a beautiful spot under some big maple trees and I thought it still felt sacred. It was one of my favorite spots to picnic.

When Brad saw the old church remains, he loved it too. The sky was a cloudless blue but the temperature was in the forties and the wind was blowing occasionally. We found a sheltered spot near one of the old walls and Brad found a clean place on the floor so we could sit down. He sat down first, legs spread, knees bent, and I knew what he wanted. I sat down and scooted back between his legs so I could lean against him and he could put his arms around me. He just sat and held me for a few minutes. I didn’t feel any need to talk and I guess he didn’t either. I was learning to like being close and quiet like that. 

“Arial, why do you want me?” he asked after a while.

“What do you mean?” I really didn’t understand what he was asking.

“You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. You could have any man you wanted. Why me?”

“Silly. There’s no answer to a question like that.”

“There’s got to be,” he insisted. “I’m feel like I’m too tall already and I haven’t stopped growing. I’m awkward and uncoordinated sometimes. I think I look OK but I’ll never be called handsome. I guess I’m satisfied with me but I just don’t feel like I’m good enough for you.”

“I think you’re taller than Dad. How tall are you?”

“Six two. My Dad said he didn’t quit growing until he was about nineteen. I may end up six three or four. How tall are you?”

“I haven’t measured lately. Mom’s five nine and I’m just a little shorter than her. I think I’ll be tall like her. If you and I are both tall, we’ll just have tall kids.”

“But we ought to have more in common that that, Arial,” he said.

“Brad, when’s the last time you wore jeans to school?” I asked.

“Huh? I can’t remember. I don’t think I ever have.”

“Have you ever seen me in jeans at school?”

“Naah, you’re always dressed kind of classy. I think you wear pants most of the time and skirts once in a while. I’ve never seen you in a dress at school.”

“And you’ve always got on khakis or some other color casual pants. You wear dress shirts to school and I don’t know anybody else who does that.”

“It’s because my arms are so long – I wear a thirty-six inch sleeve - and I can get my sleeve length in a dress shirt. I like permanent-press oxford shirts. They’re easy to iron and always look nice.”

“Brad, will you marry me?”

“What?”

“If you iron your own shirts, I want to marry you before some other girl gets you.”

“OK, so we’re both neat-freaks. What else do we have in common?”

“Does your Dad make you study?”

“No, he doesn’t have to.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“I do it for me, because I want to. I don’t know what I want to do when I get out of college but I know what I want to make out of myself. I make my grades for me, not for anybody else.”

“So do I.”

He was quiet for a minute or so.

“OK, so we’re both tall neat-freaks who like to study. What else?”

“Because I’ve never been happier than I am right now, sitting here on a cold stone floor with your arms around me.”

“Yeah, it is kind of nice, isn’t it? What else?”

“Because I love you and you love me and there’s no rational reason why but we do.”

He was quiet and I guess he was thinking about us, just like I was.

“Arial, I don’t think I’m falling in love with you. That makes it sound like I trip over something and then I’m there. I think I’m growing in love with you, just a little more all the time. Is it like that for you?”

“Yes, Love.”

“So do you think we can keep growing in love together until we get married and then keep growing when we have kids?”

“I hope so. That’s what Mom and Dad have done.”

<><><>

Saturday night, in our booth in the restaurant, Brad didn’t come in his pants after all. He squirmed and I wouldn’t stop until he had a hard-on. He tried to swat my hand away until I leaned over and told him to look where Mom had her hand. Dad was leaned back with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes that could only mean one thing. When Brad realized Mom was doing the same thing to Dad, he finally relaxed and let me hold his cock. By the time we had tiramisu and cappuccino for dessert, he returned the favor by sliding my dress up and putting his fingers on the inside of my thigh.

We were back home just before nine. Brad thanked Mom and Dad for dinner and we stood talking for a few minutes. I still hadn’t told him what I’d planned and I was glad Mom hadn’t let it slip in teasing us. I started to lead Brad down the hall to my bedroom but Mom asked me to wait a minute. She went in the dining room and picked up a shopping bag hidden behind the door. When she handed it to Brad, he looked at me with questions in his eyes.

“It’s presents for two young lovers,” she said. “Kerry wanted to get you something and he and I stopped by the mall on the way over to Stuart’s and Joanne’s this morning.”

Brad reached in the bag and brought out a couple of gift-wrapped packages, one small, one larger. He handed the larger one to me and I looked at it and saw my name in Kerry’s handwriting.

“Well, aren’t you going to open them?” Dad asked.
 
“Hush, Kieran,” Mom said. “They can open them in their bedroom.”

“Do you know what’s in them?” Brad asked Mom.

“Yes, Kerry told me what to get and I helped him pick them out.”

“It’s not anything bad, is it? No dirty jokes or stuff like that?” I asked.

“No. They’re nice presents. Kerry wrote two notes before they were wrapped. I don’t know what he wrote but he I think he knew what he wanted to say.”

“Then let’s open then now, Arial,” Brad said. “I don’t mind if your Dad knows what’s in them. I guess it’d be OK if they know what Kerry wrote.”

I nodded and Brad opened his package. He slid the ribbon to one side and off and then handed the wrapping paper to Mom. There was a small box inside. When he opened it, I saw something made of a blue silken fabric inside. He picked it up and it was a pair of lounging shorts. In the bottom of the box was a small paper with Kerry’s handwriting on it. Brad read it and then held it in front of me.

“A gift of love is always more precious when it’s beautifully wrapped,” I read out loud.

I felt like I wanted to cry but I held it in. I pulled the end of the ribbon on my package and the knot came undone. When I folded back the paper, there was another box. I held it over toward Brad and he lifted the lid. Inside there were three different items, all in pink silk and lace. I picked up the one on top - panties, the next one - a bra, and the next one - a short lacy peignoir. Underneath there was another note. I read it and then held it over in front of Brad.

“Make sure Brad is patient in opening his gift of love. It might be hard but he’ll enjoy it more,” he read out loud. I looked at his face and I could tell he was blushing. 

I tried not to cry but I couldn’t keep the tears out of my eyes and I wasn’t faking it either.

“I guess he’ll never cease to amaze me,” Dad said and I knew he meant Kerry.

“Dad, would you take a picture of Brad and me after we put them on?” I said it on impulse because I wanted to show the picture to Kerry.

“Arial!” Brad growled.

Maybe I should have thought about how he would feel before saying anything.

“I’m sorry, Love,” I said. “I’d like Kerry to see us and I’d like to keep it so we can look at it when we get old.”

I knew we’d both get hugged before we went to my - our - bedroom. Dad’s always been the big one for hugging and I think he’s getting worse as he gets older. Brad hugged Mom back but I don’t think he knew where to put his hands when Dad wrapped him up in a hug. 

“You could have told me what you were planning,” Brad said, just as soon as we went in my bedroom. “I wondered why you’ve been grinning all day, like a tiger getting ready to pounce.”

“I thought it would be a pleasant surprise,” I said.

“It is, Arial. But I’ve already bought a present for you too. I was going to surprise you with it next Thursday. I didn’t bring it with me.”

“What is it? Tell me,” I begged.

“Nope, you’re just going to have to wait now. It’s just a little something I hope you’ll wear. And don’t beg me because that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

He wanted to take a shower before we went to bed but he said I couldn’t shower with him. He said if he got a hard-on, it wasn’t going to go away by itself and I’d never get a picture. He made me go first and I just rinsed off and went back in my room wrapped in a towel. He’d already stripped down to his briefs - the ones I’d given him - and I looked around for his clothes. The closet door was open and I saw his pants and shirt on hangers next to the dress I’d worn to dinner.

He must have just rinsed off too because he was back in our bedroom in just a few minutes. He had on the lounging shorts and maybe he didn’t have a hard-on yet but the shorts didn’t hide much. His dick looked like it was about half-hard, like it was the first time I saw it.

I’d put on the bra and panties and peignoir Kerry gave me. The fabric was so thin I could see the darker color around my nipples in my bra. When I looked down, I could see the darker color of the hair on my mons in my panties. I’d never had a peignoir before and I couldn’t help but wonder why women wore such silly things unless it was because they wanted to look sexy for a man. They certainly didn’t hide much. 

I let Brad stand and look at me for a couple of minutes and then I took his hand and led him down the hallway to my parent’s bedroom. The door was closed so I knocked. I heard Dad say, “Come in.” 

Dad was standing behind Mom, brushing her hair. The only thing he had on was lounging shorts too, red ones, and they didn’t hide his dick any better than the ones Brad had on. From the side, it looked like he was half-hard already too. Mom was sitting in a chair. She had on an ivory-colored nightgown, one I’d never seen her wear before. It was beautiful with her skin and red hair.

“You’re beautiful, Mom,” I said. “Where did you get the nightgown? Did Dad give it to you?”

“No, Princess,” she said, “it’s one I had when we got married. I put it away and saved it because it was getting worn out. I just thought it’d be nice to pull it out for tonight. Your Dad always loved it.”

“Kieran,” Brad said, and I realized it had always been Mr. Stuart before, “could we have a picture of you and Siobhan too? I’d like to be able to show our kids what their grandparents looked like when I tell them about tonight.”

“Are you going to tell them everything, Brad, about this crazy Stuart family?” Mom asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Our kids are going to be raised just like yours were. We’re going to tell them everything.”

We found a blank section of wall to use as a backdrop and I took a few pictures of Mom and Dad. I made sure I got one of him brushing her hair because I’d seen him do that so often. Brad and I might have been the young lovers but it was easy to see Mom and Dad were lovers too, and not old ones.

Dad took a bunch of pictures of me and Brad. I made him take one, from the side, of Brad untying the straps that held the peignoir closed. I asked him to retie it but he couldn’t because his hands were shaking so I did it. Dad took a couple of us standing, holding hands, looking at each other, and one of Brad sitting in the chair with me standing beside him.

When we got ready to leave the room, I could tell Brad wanted to say something to my parents. I looked at his face and it looked like he was all choked up. He kept looking at Mom and then at Dad and then at me. Finally, Dad decided to chase us out.

“Go on, you two,” he said. “Siobhan and I’ve got something we want to do tonight. Maybe you two young lovers can think of something too.”

I turned to leave but Mom had one more thing to say.

“Arial, I made your Dad reset the thermostat for tonight. It won’t drop until midnight and it’ll warm up tomorrow morning at eight.”

I took Brad’s hand, pulled him out of their bedroom, and closed the door behind us. I started to go in my bedroom but Brad put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me. Before I could turn around, he scooped my up in his arms, carried me in, and stood there holding me.

“Marry me,” he said, with a big grin on his face.

“OK,” I answered.

“Do you mean it?” he asked, and the grin was gone. 

“Yes, but we’re going to have a very long engagement.”

“What was the thermostat business about?” he asked.

“Dad’s got it set to drop to sixty-two at night, usually at ten, coming back up at six. Tonight, our bedrooms will be warm until midnight.”

Brad put me down gently on my bed. I knew I weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds, the same as Kerry, but he lowered me slowly as though I weighed much less. I hated to leave those strong arms. He did have a very muscular chest and arms and it made me feel good to be held against him.

I moved over so he could get in bed beside me. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry so I tried to hold back too. He propped up on one elbow with his cheek in his hand and grinned, looking first at my face and then down over the rest of my body.

“Kerry’s right, you know. A gift of love is more precious when it’s beautifully wrapped.” He put his other hand over my stomach, moved the peignoir to both sides, and rested the palm of his hand on my bare skin. I waited but that was all he did.

“Kerry’s not here, Brad. It’s just the two of us. He wanted us to be alone tonight.”

“I know.”

He reached for my hand and moved it down between his legs. There was something there that was almost hard. It was bent down, straining against his shorts. I rubbed my hand up and down on the length of it. He put his hand on top of mine, pressed my hand against his cock, and leaned over and kissed me.

It was a chaste sort of kiss, just his lips against mine, nothing more, but I felt a warmth start throughout my body. He pulled back a little and looked directly in my eyes. When he leaned forward again, I waited until I felt his lips and then stuck the tip of my tongue out. A second later, I felt the tip of his tongue touching mine and I felt my heart begin to beat faster. I opened my mouth wider to his and, at the same time, slid my hand inside the fly of his shorts. His cock was hot and almost hard and I tugged it around until it was pointed up toward his navel.

He kept doing the same thing, kissing me, pulling back, looking, then kissing me, and I felt his hand begin to wander. He cupped my breasts in his hand and twirled his thumb around over the fabric covering my nipples. He moved his hand down and cupped it over my mound, just holding it there, sliding his fingers up and down over the fabric covering my pussy. I wrapped my fingers around his cock and did the same thing to him, sliding my hand slowly up and down. I tried to be as gentle a possible when I pulled it out through the fly of his shorts.

I suppose time began to slow down for me and I don’t know how long we just kissed and played with each other. For a while it was enough but then there came a time when I knew it wasn’t enough. Brad must have known it too.

“May I unwrap my present now?” he asked.

“You may unwrap yours but I want to go first. Please,” I coaxed.

He nodded and rolled over on his back. I rolled over too and got on my knees beside him. His dick was standing up at an angle over his stomach, the head partially uncovered, a glistening smear at the slit. It was beautiful. I looked at it, wanting so much to feel it buried inside me, knowing that it was finally going to happen.

I tugged on each side of the elastic waistband of his shorts and he lifted his butt off the bed to let me pull them down. I tried to lift them high enough in front to clear over the head of his dick but that didn’t work. Brad reached down and helped me get the shorts over it.

“I don’t want you to break it off before I get a chance to use it,” he said.

I looked down at his cock. It was standing up at an angle over his stomach, sort of throbbing or twitching. The foreskin was pulled back part way so most of the head was exposed. His legs were together and his balls were resting in a V on top of his thighs. It was all beautiful to me but something was different and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally it hit me. There wasn’t nearly as much pubic hair as usual. It was short and neat.

“What have you done?” I asked. He knew what I meant.

“I trimmed it a little bit this morning. I like the way yours is so neat. I thought maybe you’d like mine better the same way.”

I ran my fingertips over the skin where the shaft of his cock connected with his scrotum. It was smooth and I knew there was usually crinkly hair there.

“You shaved some too, didn’t you?”

“Just a little. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, but next time, I want to shave it.”

“OK, if you’ll let me do yours.” 

I nodded and wrapped my hand around his dick. He watched my face as I slid my hand slowly up and down. I kept my eyes on his. I didn’t need to see what my hand was doing; it showed in his eyes.

“Don’t make me come, Arial,” he said. “I haven’t jacked off since Wednesday night.”

I stopped moving my hand, held his dick straight up, leaned over, and took the head in my mouth. I just played with it with my lips and tongue without sucking on it. I wanted him to come, just not in my hand or mouth. I straightened up and smiled at him.

“Tonight, when you come,” I said, “it’ll be inside me.”

I lay back down on the bed and he rolled over toward me. I was ready for him to unwrap his gift. I moved up toward the head of the bed, trying to get a pillow under my head, and then realized we were still on top of the comforter. 

“Damn, Brad, get up. We’ve got to turn the comforter back.”

He chortled - I guess that’s the right word for the funny noise he made - and rolled off the bed. I rolled off on the side next to the wall and we turned the comforter down together. I kept a light blanket on the bed too and I picked up one of the pillows to turn that down. Underneath the pillow was a hand-towel, a new one I’d never seen before. On top of the hand-towel were a half-dozen foil-wrapped chocolate kisses. Brad picked up the other pillow and found the same thing. When I had made the bed that morning, there had been nothing there.

“Kerry?” Brad asked.

“No. He was already gone when I made the bed this morning. It was either Mom or Dad. I’m guessing both. Dad wouldn’t buy the towels but I know he has kisses like these in his desk.”

“I love chocolate but what are the little towels for?” Brad asked with a big smile on his face. He looked funny standing there holding the pillow with his dick pointing across the bed at me. I liked it. 

“They’re so I don’t have to make you get up and get me a towel after you make love to me, Dummy. So we don’t make a mess on the bed.”

“Oh,” he said.

We folded the blanket down and got back in bed in the same positions as before.

“I like chocolate, too,” I said, “but you’ve got something else to unwrap before you get your candy.” 

He reached over and found one end of the ribbon that tied the peignoir in front. I’d tied it in a bow since he couldn’t. He tugged on it so it untied. He pulled one of the straps on my shoulders and I rolled and pulled my arm free of the peignoir. He pulled the other strap and I pulled my arm free on the other side.

He looked at me and shook his head. “God, you’re beautiful.”

“You’re not finished yet,” I said.

He moved over closer so his head was over me and looked down at the bra. I could see his forehead wrinkle; I wondered what was puzzling him. He touched me between my breasts, on the bra.

“Where does this thing come apart? Is it in back like a regular bra?”

“Brad, you’re smart,” I said. “This thing is made so a woman’s lover can take it off her easily. What do you think?”

“Oh,” he said. He leaned over closer and looked at the part where the two cups were joined together. I knew the clasp was there but I suppose it was hidden behind the lace. He touched me and finally found it. He tried to open it with one hand but that didn’t work. 

“Use two hands, Love,” I said, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Arial, don’t make me feel like a fool. Maybe you don’t believe me but I’ve never done this before. I don’t know how these things work.”

He moved closer and used two hands. It worked and the two cups separated. I took a deep breath and waited for him to uncover my breasts.

With just his fingertips, he brushed the cup off on one side and then the other. Still, with just his fingertips, he traced a circle around one nipple and then the other. I looked down and saw my nipples standing up already. He stopped and just looked at my breasts. I waited for him to do something. Finally, he lay down, half on me, with his head between my breasts, his face turned so that his cheek was on my chest. I couldn’t see his face but I could feel his slow breathing. I waited.

He didn’t seem to be in a hurry so I tried to be content to wait with him. Finally he turned again, turned his face so that I could see him, see his eyes in contact with mine, and he brought his hand to one breast and his mouth to the other. It was like an electric jolt to me. I could feel the response all down my body and between my legs. I put my hands behind his head, closed my eyes, and enjoyed what he was doing to my breasts.

I didn’t hurry him; I just let him play. He was the one who decided he was ready to unwrap the rest of his gift. He reached down with one hand and cupped his fingers around my mound. I opened my legs to give him room. At first he simply rubbed me, up and down, exploring between my legs. When he was ready, he pushed my panties aside and searched out my pussy with one finger. I was wet and ready for him when he teased my inner lips apart. I heard him take a couple of deep breaths and I waited and let him play.

He moved again so that he was on his knees beside me and took hold of my panties on each side. I lifted my butt up off the bed so he could pull them down. He pulled. I lifted my legs, thighs up, so he could pull them up. He pulled. I held my legs up while he pulled them down my calves and off. I put my legs back down and spread them for him.

He moved over me and came to rest between my legs, on his knees, sitting back on his heels, looking down at my pussy. I waited while he looked at me.

“God, you’re beautiful, Arial,” he moaned.

“You’ve said that, Brad,” I whispered.

“Would you let me put a pillow under your hips?”

I handed him the other pillow and lifted my hips up off the bed. He tugged the pillow under me. I waited while he looked some more. Finally he decided what he wanted to do.

He moved further down on the bed and sprawled out on his stomach with his face between my legs. I looked down and could see his eyes, looking at my pussy. He moved back up a few inches and brought his mouth against me. I closed my eyes and let him do whatever he wanted.

He used just the tip of his tongue, licking up on each side of my pussy, moving closer and closer to the center with each lick. I think that’s when I started holding my breath each time his tongue touched me. He moved to the crease between my outer and inner labia - the same teasing touch with just the tip of his tongue. Finally, just when I was ready to scream, he sought out the part of my opening where I wanted his cock and began licking up until he found my clit, always just the tip of his tongue. I could feel the heat and tightness building inside me.

“Please, Brad, don’t make me come like that,” I whispered. “I want to come with you inside me.”  

He didn’t answer. He moved up and over me and I knew we were finally about to do it. I was scared but I wanted to do it. I reached down between us and waited until he brought his cock into my hands. His arms were stiff and straight on each side of me and the only other place we were touching was where his legs held my thighs apart. 

He began to lower himself on me, slowly, and I guided his cock toward my opening. When I felt it touch me, I rubbed the big smooth head up and down between my lips, lubricating it. He waited until I was ready and until I finally seated it in the right spot. He pushed once and the head slid into me, spreading my pussy wide, so wide, but so good. He waited again and I moved my hands from between our bodies.

“Open your eyes, Arial. I want to see it go into you.”

I opened my eyes but I was confused. He was looking in my eyes, not down between our bodies. He lowered himself part way down on me and I could feel his body trembling. His eyes were wide and unblinking. He pushed once and I felt his cock slide into me just a little bit more. It stretched me, filled me, but it was so good I still felt like screaming. He pulled back once, pushed again, and it went a little deeper. I could feel him trembling even more. His eyes never left mine.

He did it once more and I knew I couldn’t hold back any longer. I felt it sweep over me like a scalding wave, starting somewhere deep inside me, powerful contractions squeezing my cunt around his cock. It was still going on when I felt him collapse on top of me, as though his arms had given out. He fell on top of me, his chest against my breasts, and his face beside mine. He pushed once, twice, pushed it all the way inside me, so deep that it was pain and pleasure at the same time, and then said something, “I can’t...” and then I felt his cock throbbing deep inside me at the same time that my cunt was contracting around it. I wrapped my arms around his chest and my legs around his and pulled him against me and into me and wanted never to let him go.

Time really does stand still. There are aftershocks to earthquakes. I could feel my cunt rippling around his cock while we lay joined together for the first time. He was breathing as though he’d run a race but then so was I. I could feel his heart beating against mine or maybe it was just our one heart.

I could feel his cock gradually losing its stiffness inside me. I waited for it to lose its size but it stayed almost the same, softer now but still big, still filling me so much that it made me want to cry with joy. I could feel his balls too now, so soft and warm, resting between my legs on my ass cheeks. 

Finally he lifted his head so that his face was over mine. He didn’t say anything. He gave me one gentle kiss, just my lips against his, and then looked in my eyes again.

“What did you start to say, Love?” I asked.

“When?” he asked and I could see his brows wrinkle in puzzlement.

“Just now, when you started to come inside me.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, you did. You said ‘I can’t…’ and then you stopped.”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

I became aware that there was something under me, just under my ribs on one side, and it was uncomfortable.

“There’s something under my back. Would you get it out, please?”

I tried to roll over and he shifted his weight on me and we rolled together. He reached his hand under and found it. He pulled it out and held it in front of my face. It was a chocolate kiss and it looked like it had been mashed almost flat. 

He supported himself on both elbows while he unwrapped it. It was partially melted and he licked the foil wrapper and then turned it to me so I could lick it too. He stuck the brown lump in his mouth and held his fingers to my mouth. I sucked one and then the other clean. He leaned over and brought his lips to mine. I opened my mouth to his and he gave me a kiss. I gave it back, smaller, and he gave it back again, smaller still. It disappeared somewhere and we stayed with open mouths, still sharing the kiss.

We stopped to breathe and Brad looked around on the bed. He reached out beside us, found another kiss, unwrapped it, grinned at me, and popped it in my mouth. We shared four kisses before I made him stop, begging him to save some for later.

 “What did you say I said?” he asked.

“You said, ‘I can’t…’”

“I can,” he said, and flexed his cock inside me. It was hard again. He said it again and flexed it again. Once more. Yes, whatever it was, he could. It was hot and hard and so good and filling me and stretching me and I hoped he’d never take it out.

He moved his arms again so that they were beside me, his forearms beside my chest, his hands curled under and around my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down on top of me so I could feel his chest pressing against my breasts and my stomach against his. We were close but I wanted him closer and deeper in me. I brought my legs up, bent them, and wrapped them around him so that my ankles were locked behind his ass. That was better. He was stretching my cunt almost to splitting with his big cock and it was all I could want but I wanted it deeper still.

He started slowly, easing his cock out of me and then back in to the depths, and I savored every second of feeling his flesh moving in me. Gradually he began to move faster, to push it into me harder. Within a minute or so he was shoving into me so hard that it jolted me toward the head of the bed. I thought any minute I’d bump my head but then I realized I wasn’t moving after all. He was holding me in place underneath him with his hands. His grip on my shoulders was almost painful. My cunt couldn’t quite decide whether it was feeling pleasure or pain or both at the same time.

“Wait, Love, please. Not so fast. You’re hurting me,” I finally managed to say.

He stopped instantly, his cock still buried in me. I felt his hands relax their grip on my shoulders and the muscles in his body lose their tension. He lifted his face from my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Arial. My dick was thinking for itself.”

I moved my hands up to his neck and pulled his lips down to mine. We opened to each other and played tongue tag for a minute until he pulled away.

“I am sorry, Arial. I said I’d never hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“Ssshhh, Love. It was good hurting. You were just going too fast. Can you slow down a little?”

“I’ll try.”

He started moving his cock in and out of me again, slowly this time, and it was all good. I lifted my legs into place over his back and locked my ankles together again. It was all so damn good I wanted to cry.

Brad started to squirm around on top of me and at first I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to do. He swung one arm down and around and caught my leg behind the knee and pulled and locked it in place. He did the same with the other arm and I was pinned beneath him. I was bent in half, my knees near my chest, my feet in the air over Brad’s back, and his cock was so deep in me I wondered how I could hold it within me. For a minute or so, he just stayed that way, his chest flattening my breasts, his breathing heavy beside my ear, his cock hot and hard in my cunt. Finally he lifted his face above me again.

“OK?”

I took a deep breath and nodded and he began to move in me. He was slow and careful this time, his eyes locked with mine, his hips moving up and down gently, his dick filling me and then withdrawing. Everything in my cunt felt liquid and I could feel the wetness smeared all abound it. He lowered his face to mine again and our mouths opened and he started tongue-fucking me above in rhythm to cock-fucking me below. It was too much and I could feel myself starting to come again.

It wasn’t strong and hard this time, just easy waves that kept rippling around while he slid his cock in and out. It seemed first like it had stopped and then it would start again. He kept sliding his cock in and out and I wondered if he even knew I was coming all the time while he was doing it.

Finally I felt his muscles tighten and his breath came out of his mouth into mine and I knew he was coming too. His thrusts became more and more erratic and he shoved his cock into me one last time, as deep as it could possibly go, and I could feel his convulsions somewhere inside me. The split second his spasms stopped, he released my legs and collapsed on top of me and I locked my ankles together over his ass and held him in me as tight as I could. I could feel something hot and wet seeping out of me and down the crack of my ass.

He stayed on top of me, dead weight, almost smothering me with his body, while our breathing slowly returned to normal. I could feel his cock gradually softening this time. I didn’t want him ever to take it out but, as he finally began to move, I realized that my pussy was going to squeeze it out as it softened. It almost hurt to feel it leaving me.

“Do you see those towels, Love? I think I’m going to need one,” I whispered.

He raised his head and looked around. He reached out with his hand and brought one back to my hand. When he finally rolled off me, I stuffed the towel between my legs and closed them. I couldn’t move. I shut my eyes and gave in. I felt him moving around and I knew he was wiping himself dry with the other towel.

He reached down and pulled the blanket up and over us, rolled the other direction, turned out the bedside light, and then stretched out beside me. I turned on my side, my butt to him, and he spooned up against me. I could feel the towel wrapped around his dick pressing against my backside. When he put his arms around me, I took his hand and held it to my breast. I couldn’t think of any words to say what I was feeling but Brad managed to find the right words. 

“Are we joined together now, Arial, for the rest of our lives, my heart with yours?”

“I hope so, Brad, I really do.”

“Me, too,” he said and those were the last words I heard.

Some time during the night something woke me up. The comforter was pulled up over us and Brad was still spooned up against me. I was warm and sleepy under the cover and the room was cool now. As I gradually became awake, I realized that what I felt between my legs wasn’t a towel anymore. It was Brad’s dick, hard and hot and pressed against my cunt between my thighs. His hand was still on my breast. Then he did it again and I knew what had awakened me - his thumb and finger were gently tweaking my nipple. He started sliding his dick back and forth between my legs as slowly and gently as possible. I let him play for a while without letting him know I was awake. 

Finally I knew I’d had enough teasing. I reached down with one hand, moved my hips back a little, and pressed on Brad’s dick just under the head. It slid into me with no resistance, just the head and a little more but that was enough at first. I let him play some more and he quietly slid it in and out and I could feel the hot wetness spreading everywhere outside my cunt. He’d opened the floodgates and there was a deluge pouring out. I didn’t care. I let him play until I decided what I wanted. What I wanted was more.

I moved away from him and rolled over. I pushed him over on his back, swung my leg over him, and straddled him. I reached down with one hand, seated his cock in the right place, and slid down on it in one continuous motion until it was buried entirely in me. He pulled the comforter up over my head and his, so it was like we were in a cave, and then wrapped his hands around my ass. I could feel his fingertips back there, just on the lips of my cunt where they were stretched around his cock. I was warm under the comforter but I was steaming hot on top of Brad.

I tried to remember how Mom had told me to do it. Slid up and down and then flex my pelvis forward until I felt my clit rub against the base of his cock. Just when I began to think it wasn’t going to rub on Brad’s dick like hers did on Dad’s, it began to work. It was just the faintest touch of my uncovered clit against the base of his cock but it was enough. It took only a few seconds until I felt my cunt start convulsing around Brad’s dick. It was too much this time and I started saying bad words.

Brad gave one little snort or laugh and moved his hands to my hips. He lifted me up above him a few inches and started shoving his dick upward into me. I could feel my aftershocks rippling around each time he hit bottom. It didn’t take long for it to be too much for Brad too. He shoved it in one last time, pulled me down so hard the bones of my pelvis hit painfully against his, and starting shooting inside me. Maybe I couldn’t feel his come squirting inside me but I could feel his contractions as clearly as my own.

When it all died away, I stayed on top of Brad. I could feel something running out of me and I knew he had to be getting drenched. I didn’t care. I didn’t even want to make him look for the towels again. Fuck the fucking sheets, I thought. I stayed there and his cock was still filling me when I went back to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, the room was bright with light through the closed blinds. I was spooned up against Brad this time and my face was pressed against his naked back. The comforter was around my neck but Brad’s shoulders were uncovered. I realized the room was already warm and knew that it was after eight. I took a couple of deep breaths and immediately wished I hadn’t. Something smelled musky, fishy, whatever, and it wasn’t a stink but it wasn’t an odor I wanted to breathe any longer than I had to. 

I reached down for Brad’s dick. It was hard again. I’d heard Dad and my brothers talk about piss-hards more than once and I knew it wasn’t ready for me again. I held it for a while anyway. His pubic hair felt kind of crusty like something had dried there. He let me know he was awake too.

“Gotta pee,” he said.

“Me too,” I responded.

“Don’ wanna get up.”

“Me neither.”

We lay there for a while longer and he finally gave in first. He rolled out of the bed and let his hard-on lead him into the bathroom. I thought he looked cute with his hair all messed up and his dick pointing straight to where it wanted to go, like some sort of divining rod.

I waited and didn’t hear anything even though he’d left the door open. I was beginning to wonder what he was doing when I heard him finally start. It sounded like somebody had a fire hose squirting down in the toilet. It went on and on and I started giggling. When he finally stopped, I heard him give a big sigh of evident relief, say “Your turn,” and then the toilet flushed.

I rolled out reluctantly and went in the bathroom. The seat was down and it was dry. Maybe he was a keeper. I sat and peed - and peed and peed. He just watched me with a big grin on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him and wrapped some TP around my hand and patted dry. It didn’t hurt but I could tell my pussy had had a good workout during the night.

I got in the tub and started the shower. Brad got in with me and pulled the shower curtain closed. The warm water felt so good in my face and over my body. Brad’s hands all over me felt even better. We kept washing and fooling around and washing a little and fooling around a lot more and he had another hard-on by the time we were clean.

When we got out, we helped dry each other. I wanted to dry my hair but Brad wanted something else. He didn’t even ask, just turned me around and pushed on my back so that I was bent over the bathroom sink. He held me down with one hand and guided his cock with the other. He missed the spot the first time but I helped the second time and he hit the spot. 

I’d given my pussy a little cleaning with my hand and with water while I was in the shower but I hadn’t worried about the stuff deeper in me. He started banging into me and stirred it up in no time. I rested my forearms on the counter with my head over the sink. He put both hands on my hips and held me while he did what he wanted to. It didn’t take very long before I felt him shove it in as deep as possible while he stopped moving or breathing or anything except shooting another load deep inside me. I loved it.

After a minute or so, he slowly pulled his dick out and let me stand up straight.

“Did you come?” he asked.

“No, Love, but it’s OK, I don’t…”

He cut me short. He picked me up in those strong arms again, carried me back in the bedroom, threw me on the bed, pulled so that my butt was on the edge of the bed and my legs were splayed wide. He dropped to his knees, put his mouth on my pussy, and nuzzled until he found my clit. He sucked and tongued and in no time I came again. I would have been OK without it but I was much better with it.

When I could move again, I knew I needed to clean up a little before I got dressed. I started to do it in the bathroom so he couldn’t watch but then I decided he might as well learn. I went in the bathroom, got a wet cloth, a sanitary napkin, and came back in my room. I opened my dresser drawers and found a pair of panties. I used the cloth to wipe up as much as I could, spreading my pussy lips to get the inside cleaned a little. He watched everything with a grin until I picked up the sanitary napkin and my panties.

“What do you need that for?” he asked. “I thought you had your period the first part of the week.”

I could see his brows drawn up in puzzlement again. Men! Sometimes they’re easy to read but they can be so dense.

“I did, Love. But somebody’s put four little deposits of semen in my pussy. Some of it’s already drooled out but there’s still a lot in me. If I don’t put a napkin in my panties, I’ll make a mess on everything when I sit down.”

“Oh.”

“I love you, Brad,” I said.

“I’m glad. Me too.”

“You love you too?”

“No, damn it. You know what I mean. I love you, Arial.”

“I knew what you meant, Brad. It’s just fun to tease you.”

After I dried my hair, we got dressed. Brad looked good in the sweats I’d bought him. We were both in Navy blue, one of my favorite colors. When we went looking for somebody else, Mom and Dad were sitting in the kitchen. They had orange juice and a carafe of coffee on the counter with some of Mom’s banana-nut bread. They said Kavan and Kathryn were still sleeping.

We started teasing each other while we were having breakfast, sort of comparing notes about what we’d done during the night but not really being explicit. When Mom asked me if I’d reached a conclusion about whether Brad was a good lover, I decided to tell her exactly what he’d done. I thought Brad would blush red as a beet when I told Mom and Dad what he’d done after we’d had our morning shower. But Mom started telling off on Dad too and then Dad gave us the low-down on Mom and Brad told them how I’d gone back to sleep in the middle of the night with his dick still in me. Before it was over, they knew everything Brad and I had done and we knew what they’d done. There wasn’t much difference; Brad and I had just done more of it. It felt good to be treated like a grown-up by my parents, sort of like we were equal and, when it came to sex and love, I guess we were.

About mid-afternoon, Brad said he needed to be home in an hour or so. I told Mom and Dad we were going in our room to take a nap. They knew we weren’t really sleepy. Brad and I found out how messy making love four or five times in about twenty hours could be. He said he didn’t care if it was messy when it was so good and I felt the same way. When he finally left I went in my room and had a good cry. It wasn’t because I was unhappy; it was because I was so happy.

<><><>

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day for me. All of my family was there, all five of us. Kathryn was there with Kavan and Brad with me. I felt bad that Kerry didn’t have anybody of his own so I made sure we were all extra nice to him. The Andersens, part of my extended family I guess, were there, Lauren, Stuart, Joanne, and little Paul. It would have been perfect if Luke and Rachael and Adrianna Bridges had been there too. But I knew they’d be moving back in the spring after their baby was born. It was wonderful to have such a big family of friends and people I loved. I hoped Brad and I could someday start another family something like this one but maybe not quite so mixed up.

Brad gave me the gift he’d bought for me. He said he wanted to give it to me the first time we made love but somebody hadn’t let him know the schedule had changed. It was a beautiful gold necklace with a pendant of two entwined hearts. There was a small stone in each heart and I recognized one as my birthstone. I looked on the back of the heart and found my name engraved there. Brad’s name was on the other. I put it around my neck and decided to leave it there from now on.

Mom had planned a real Southern Thanksgiving, no Turkey Day for us. We had baked ham, sweet potato casserole, apple-onion-cheese casserole, collard greens, and some other stuff. We had corn bread and rolls and I think the rolls were the only thing we didn’t cook ourselves. Dessert was pecan pie and coconut-orange cake. None of it was low calorie but it was great food. I thought Brad was going to bust wide open eating so much.

But that night and for the next two that he slept with me, I helped him use up a lot of calories. A couple of times, I even got a few calories directly from him. But I didn’t have to worry about them making me fat.


TO BE CONTINUED:
