“Probably?” Gabe laughed. “Are you trying to offend her?
Don't worry, babe, he likes it. I can tell from his pants that he likes it.”
Chris made a sound in his throat and Kate knew he was shooting Gabe a look. She wondered what her own eyes were like. She imagined Chris's cock getting hard and felt a pulse in her pussy.
“Maybe we can get rid of this âprobably' if you feel it, Chris. What do you think? Take a handful of that ass and tell me it's not the best you've ever had.”
There was a pause. Chris was waiting for permission. Kate half glanced back at him, then at Gabe. He was implacable. She stayed silent and still.
“C'mon, loosen up already. I thought you'd enjoy this a lot more, it's not supposed to be torture. Not for you, anyway.” Gabe's voice changed as he added, “Look man, either get in the game or get out. I won't have trouble finding someone to grab her ass.”
Kate heard another throaty sound and felt two hands take hold of her hips. Chris pulled her toward him a little, hands gliding from checked cotton to black silk.
“There we go. I knew it.” Gabe sipped his lemonade again. When he moved his left hand to rest on his knee, Kate saw a bulge under his dark jeans.
Once Chris's hands had gotten a feel for her hips, he slid them back, over her ass. She wobbled a little, still posed with her hands on her knees.
“Put your hands on the table,” Chris ordered. She let herself fall forward. Now that she was stable, Chris's hands pushed into her, spreading his thumbs over her cheeks. At first it was only a light massage, but soon the pressure got harder. Fingers gripping into her, Chris slid them over the dip where her bare legs began, slowly tracing down the backs of her smooth thighs.
When he was almost at her knees he changed direction, angling his wrists inward and moving them up between her legs. His thumbs slipped under her skirt.
“That's it, stop.” Gabriel leaned over, setting his lemonade back on the side table. “So?”
Kate stood and turned around, smoothing her teddy over her hips. Chris pulled his hands back to his armrests and avoided her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, that was great.” He looked at the chessboard.
“Yeah, not bad. It's your turn, I moved my rook.” Gabe looked at Kate, “Why don't you come here and sit with me? You can be my good-luck charm.” He shifted in his chair and spread his legs. Kate settled lightly onto his lap, knees angled between his, pointing toward the game.
Chris was staring at the board, contemplating his next move. Over the last few months, Gabe had been teaching Chris to play. Chris had yet to win.
Gabe was usually the picture of fairness, charitable but never coddling. As far as Kate knew, he'd never lost, quietly infuriating cocky uncles, campus chess nerds and gnarled old logic professors. He taught by explaining his strategy and giving his opponents a chance to ask questions. Today there were no questions. The rules had changed.
He stroked Kate's arm, lightly tracing the line from elbow to shoulder. “Aren't I lucky to have such a charm, Chris?”
Chris nodded, eyes on the board.
“You know it's not just her ass that I appreciate, she's really got the whole package. Straighten up a bit, honey. Let us see you.”
Chris looked up, his hand hovering over the board. Kate perfected her posture, intensely aware of the sheer fabric hanging over her body. It emphasized more than it concealed. She arched her back slightly, pushing her breasts up and out. Enough to
make a difference but not enough that they knew she was trying. Let them see. It would only make them want her more.
Gabe pulled back to appraise her. “Yes, just like that.” He made sure Chris was looking. He was, overtly now. His eyes found Kate's for the first time. It was a guarded meeting. Nothing was said, but nothing was negated.
“Smile, baby. Show us you like it.” Gabe's hand on her arm continued its stroking. “Show him you like it.”
Kate smiled slightly at Chris.
“No, not like he was taking a picture. Like you know how to listen and do as you're told.”
The tingling between her legs got stronger. Kate shifted on Gabe's lap and gave a real smile.
“Much better. Now, show us your tits.” Gabe was gaining momentum.
Kate realized again that she was outside. The spring air slipped around her shoulders. She reached for one of the thin straps of her lingerie.
“No, keep your clothes on. You really are easy, aren't you? Just give them a squeeze for us.” Gabe smiled at Chris, who had sat back in his chair.
Kate's cheeks felt hot again. She was looking at the ground, at her legs clamped tight together, at the chess game. She saw the queen, still unmoved, and focused on it as she raised her hands to her chest, lightly cupping. She raised her hands, lifting, offering her breasts.
She felt Gabe about to say something. It wasn't enough. She got her fingers into it, slowly squeezing, massaging herself. After a few moments, she had to close her eyes. Her hands relaxed and started really grabbing, pulling. She loved her tits.
“Okay, enough.” Chris leaned forward and moved a pawn. “Your turn, Gabe.”
Surprised, Gabe cocked his head for a moment before nodding and focusing on the game. Kate put her hands on her lap and looked at Chris. He was impossible to gauge. He didn't seem uncomfortable, but he didn't seem happy. He reclined again and smiled at her.
“Take one of your straps down,” he said.
She glanced at Gabe. Without lifting his attention from his next move, he waved a hand in flippant approval.
Kate sat as straight as she could and pushed a thin strap off of her left shoulder. When it fell, the lacy triangle covering her breast dropped a little, but she was still decent. A breeze tickled her back and she shivered.
“Turn toward Gabe a bit. Get right in his face.”
Kate adjusted herself on Gabe's lap, lightly pushing her legs together and into him. Her clit was throbbing but she didn't want them to know how good it felt to shift around. Her cleavage rested a few inches below Gabe's face. He didn't move. She took a deep breath, as if she was nervous, taking the opportunity to push her tits up for him. If she was reduced to a distraction, she would at least do it well. Gabe's eyes stayed locked on the chessboard.
“Okay, get rid of the other strap.” Apparently Chris was more comfortable than she thought. She slipped off the other bit of shining satin.
“Good. Now pull it down a bit, let's see this rack for real.” Kate didn't move, not wanting Chris to be the one to undress her. Gabe gave her leather cuff a tap and nodded. In response, she tugged her top down so the lace cups fell down to her rib cage. Chris sucked back an inhale.
Gabe laughed and moved another pawn. “I didn't think you knew about the nipple piercing. Like it? Your turn, by the way.”
Chris's words were short and tight. “No, I didn't know, but
I like it. Why just one?” Kate opened her mouth to answer but Gabe cut in.
“Did I say you could speak? I know you're capable of following simple rules, Kate. Now smarten up.” To make his point, Gabe gave her right breast a smack. The movement rippled through her and both men smiled.
“Because she's a slut, Chris. And she's a bit more complicated than symmetry, as you'll come to see.”
Chris laughed. “Okay. Did it hurt?”
Kate looked at Gabe, who gestured with his hand.
“Yes. But not for long.”
Chris grinned. “Worth it?”
Kate was smoothing her hem over her thighs again. She looked Chris full in the face. His eyes were the first thing she'd ever noticed about himâsharp blue in the center surrounded by ice gray rings. She didn't know how long they gazed at each other, but eventually she breathed, “Yes.”
Gabe shifted position suddenly. “All right, enough. Chris, move already.” Solidly on his lap, Kate had moved when Gabe did. Her eyes stayed on Chris.
“I'll move if I can suck on that metal.”
Gabe was silent. A pigeon landed on the railing, eyeing them. “Fine,” Gabe said. “After your turn.”
Spooked, the bird flew away. Chris immediately grabbed a bishop and put it on a new square. “Done.”
“Go stand in front of him, then come back here.” Kate knew that Gabe didn't like when his games were delayed. She obediently rose and went to stand in front of Chris.
“Just the mouth, no hands.” Gabe's voice came from behind her.
Chris nodded. The color of his eyes could make him look mean, but Kate knew better. Behind the vivid cobalt of the iris,
there was a softness, as if the metal had melted in his body heat. She saw that pool of liquid now, thick and deep, but with a glint she'd never seen before.
He gave an ambiguous smile. She took the cue to step forward. His tongue wet his lips and he tilted his head up, slowly licking up and over her nipple. Standing naked in the windy sky and sensitized by the metal, it was absolutely erect. He smiled again, a pulling, knowing smile. She wanted to push into him but forced herself to be still.
Chris seemed to approve of her control and put his tongue just underneath the swell of her nipple a second time. Again he licked upward, taking her into his mouth. Kate gasped at the shock of his warm mouth on her chilled skin. Her head dropped back until she realized that he'd stopped moving. He'd paused with her breast in his mouth, and when she looked down at him, he grinned but didn't let her go. He started lightly tracing her, his tongue making slow, devastating circles around her hard flesh. He paid special attention to the steel on either side of her, the balls that held the bar in place. She felt herself rock forward, her own mouth opening. She was wet and throbbing. Had anyone ever passed out from the sight of a man's hair? His jawline, his eyelashes? Chris was torturing her, teasing and taking her. When she realized how much he had her, she pulled back. That was enough.
He didn't let her go. As her body moved back in retreat, Chris caught her nipple between his teeth. He held her tightlyâshe wasn't in pain but she couldn't move. Already on fire, now she felt a bolt of electricity shoot to her clit. She panted and tried to pull away, hips squirming. Again, he didn't let her go. She didn't really want him to, but she pulled away a third time. He released his teeth just long enough to suck on her, hard. She gasped again as drips of sex slipped out of her pussy and soaked her thong,
trickling down her leg. His hands lifted and fell, gripping his chair and reaching to rub his cock through his jeans. His mouth pulled harder, sucking with a force she'd never felt. Giving up, she heard sounds coming from her throat and rocked toward him. Her eyes closed. She weakly raised her hands but never knew what she would have done with them.
“Checkmate. Game over.”
Kate heard the toppling sound of wood and opened her eyes. Looking too quickly behind her, she swooned and took hold of the railing.
She didn't fall, and through her reverie she heard the sounds of a zipper closing and Gabe standing behind her. Chris blinked and rose, then shook Gabe's hand.
“Wow. Good game. You win again,” he said. On the board, a single piece lay on its side. A crumpled wet napkin lay in Gabe's chair.
“Ha. Well, you played well. Kate, come here.”
Kate turned and Gabriel removed her leather cuff, setting it beside the almost untouched lemonade. She stared at them both. They wouldn't leave her like that. But Gabe was calm and Chris was quickly regaining his composure. She pulled her straps back over her shoulders. Gabriel turned back to Chris.
“Thanks for coming over. We'll hang out sometime this week?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
“Come on, I'll walk you out.”
“Okay.” Chris looked at Kate, standing dazed and silent. One hand still gripped the railing. “I'll see you later, Kate?”
Was he being casual? Kate hoped so, but also knew she'd be offended if he was. She wanted an embrace. She needed more touch, but he didn't move to hug her good-bye. Fine.
“Yes, sometime. Of course,” she said coolly. Chris turned to
follow Gabriel. As she watched them and her anger rose, Chris turned back. His stunning eyes found hers. The glint was gone, replaced by something else. Mischief. He winked.
Kate laughed.
She untied her apron and turned back toward the city. Bracing with one hand, she slipped the other under the billowing black silk, between her legs. Massaging slowly, she rocked until she came into herself. The sun was shining. The view was beautiful.
CUMANÃ
Helen Sedgwick
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Ten days of suffocating humidity had left me drained and sweaty, gasping for the cold chill of Glasgow. It was a kind of heat I'd never known before, loaded with moisture that clung to my throat and lungs and teased my hair into a frizz of wild curls. I was sharing my hotel room with my sister, our twin beds squashed together between an en suite and a window that looked out onto the pool below, surrounded with bikinied bodies basking in the heat of Venezuela's rainy season.
It was the day before my brother's wedding, and we had to go to a barbeque at his fiancée's grandparents' house in the suburbs. I pulled the straighteners through my hair once more, exasperated but determined to force some serenity into my appearance. For a moment my hair looked smooth, but I knew it wouldn't last. Within seconds it began to curl again.
“Think I need to change?” I asked Liz, sucking in my stomach.
“No way.” Liz was lying on her bed reading, for the third
time, the copy of
Hello!
that we'd been given on the flight.