With Sue moving out after an almost two-year relationship, Jerry was not looking forward to the holiday season as he wove his way through the crowd at the airport. He was on his way to visit his parents in Florida for Thanksgiving. A familiar-looking blonde head caught his attention. As he approached her from behind, the hiking boots, backpack, pocketed shorts, and plaid shirt—with long sleeves rolled up and buttoned—supported his guess.

“Amy?” he called when he was close enough for her to hear.

She turned, looking a little dazed before she identified who spoke, then broke into a wide smile. Some people have a smile that can light up a room; hers could light up a forest, which is where she preferred to be. A natural beauty, her peaches and cream complexion needed no makeup and her curly blonde hair was like a halo around her head.

From the day he met her, Jerry had battled his crush-cretin to suppress his attraction to her. She and her husband, Jim, were two of the nicest people he knew. Both avid hikers, they would let him tag along on easier treks and help him enjoy the outdoors despite his tenderfoot status.

He thought of her as Nature Girl. Although usually in shorts, she didn’t shave her legs, the fine blonde hair not noticeable against her pale skin unless you looked closely. She wore no bra on her modest chest and didn’t shave her rarely-seen armpits. It wasn’t a political statement, just her innate state. Her usual attire didn’t call attention to her choices. Jerry could visualize her living in the wild, naked and free.

Automatically squashing that lewd thought when it arose, he asked, “Where’s Jim?” knowing her husband’s presence would restrain his imagination.

The loss of her smile was like a storm cloud blocking the sun.

“We’re divorced, as of last month,” she said quietly.

He suddenly realized he hadn’t seen the couple since before he hooked up with Sue; the closest she got to the great outdoors was dining al fresco. Jim and Amy had been married for over ten years and seemed so compatible. On the way to catching flights wasn’t the place to have a conversation about it.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jerry said, trying to give her a hug, but being limited by her backpack and the computer case he carried. “I’m on my way to visit my parents for Thanksgiving.”

“Me, too,” she looked morose. “I have to break the news to them.”

“I understand. I’ll be thinking about you,” he commiserated. “You have my number? Give me a call if you want to talk. Maybe we can get together when we get back.”

The Friday after Thanksgiving, he prompted her with a text and they had a long video chat. Jim had decided their house in the redwoods north of the Golden Gate Bridge was too close to civilization and wanted to move to Idaho. Amy enjoyed being able to do things with friends in San Francisco on occasion and liked the house they built. After talking about it for a few years, he finally put his foot down, assuming she would give in; she didn’t.

Jerry’s crush-cretin was running rampant in his dreams and daydreams. The opportunity had finally arrived! But his thoughtful mind knew that rebound relationships never worked. Moreover, despite his fantasies, he knew they differed fundamentally. Amy considered the city a place to visit, not to live—analogous to the way he felt about the forest.

Still, Jim’s departure got him wondering if he should consider a change of lifestyle. Whether or not there was some way for something to happen between them, he knew he had to play it carefully. Muzzling his miscreant salaciousness, he decided to be supportive and see where things might lead.

*****

Via texts, he suggested that Amy stay with him for a day or two on her return before heading back to the woods. Amy and Jim had stayed in his guest bedroom when they were in the city many times over the years, even using it when he was traveling. Jerry got tickets to a holiday show and he could treat her to a night on the town.

“We’re both recovering from break-ups—of course, you and Jim were more committed than Sue and I,” Jerry mused during their pre-show dinner. “It’s traditional to have a rebound relationship that ends in disaster. Since we know each other so well, what if we be each other’s rebound?”

He watched her expression as he said the words he had mentally rewritten so many times, trying not to sound rehearsed.

“We could make a pact and go in with our eyes open, knowing it wouldn’t last. Say, just through the holidays. Instead of being home alone, we could have some fun and companionship.”

That last word seemed to dismay her.

“So… like… sex?” she frowned.

“Maybe but not necessarily,” Jerry said, kicking his crush-cretin back into the corner. “When I’m between monogamous situations, I do date, so it wouldn’t be unusual for me. It’s hard to discuss it in the abstract. Of course, you’re an attractive woman—if you’ll let me omit the long list of your wonderful qualities. But you’re also a good friend and I would not want to risk damaging our friendship.”

Her face relaxed to be more thoughtful than concerned.

He tried to lighten the mood. “I know you married people think we single people are fucking each other every chance we get, but sometimes a date is just a date!” he laughed, drawing a grin from her.

“Oh, so is this a date?” she teased.

Jerry’s inner voice was screaming, but his outer voice said calmly, “If you like. We could call it our first date of our Rebound Pact.” He extended his hand across the table; with a twinkle in her eye, she shook it. 

The show was a “socialist” version of A Christmas Carol, where the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future were replaced by a strike for better wages and health care for all the Tiny Tims, a consumer boycott until the company stopped polluting, and a government investigation that forced Scrooge to pay his fair share of taxes. The two-drink minimum and raucous performance had them in high holiday spirits.

Returning to his apartment, he walked her to her bedroom door and gave her his best first kiss, warm but polite as they hugged briefly.

“I had a wonderful time with you tonight.” His usual script seemed more meaningful somehow, but he could read her indecision.

“So did I, Jerry. Thank you so much.” She entered her room and watched him watch her as she slowly closed the door.

With the excitement of the evening, Jerry was having trouble falling asleep. It was almost three and he was considering jacking off to make himself tired, but he worried about where his imagination might lead him.

He didn’t recognize the soft tap at the door the first time he heard it.

“Jerry,” Amy whispered, “are you up?” Her quiet rapping seemed like she didn’t want to wake him if he was sleeping.

“Come in, Amy,” he called, “I haven’t been able to fall asleep yet.”

She entered wearing a loose t-shirt and sweatpants just like he was.

“Um, Jerry, would it be too weird to ask if I could sleep with you?” Her shy request was followed by a giggle. “I don’t mean sex. When we hugged, it made me realize how much I miss physical contact. I just think having a warm body next to me would help me relax.”

“Sure thing,” he struggled to sound casual as he reached to open the other side of the bed for her. “We can lie back-to-back or however you feel most comfortable.”

He had rolled on his side away from her, but she moved to spoon him. It hid between his legs the unavoidable response to feeling her soft warmth against his butt and back. Her solution worked because before long her regular breathing showed she was asleep and Jerry soon joined her.

Waking in darkness, he couldn’t tell the time, but they had changed their positions in their sleep. He was spooning her, his right arm trapped under her neck, her rear end pressed against his crotch. Feigning sleep as his mind cleared and he assessed the situation, he noticed she was subtlely moving rhythmically. Whether caused by that or the pressure of her butt or just ordinary night wood, his rigid cock nestled in the valley of her backside, albeit separated from her by four layers of cloth.

Fully awake, he realized his left arm was pulled around her and clasped under hers. It was no accident of sleep; she wore him like a sweater wrapped over her shoulders. The movement was plainly her rubbing herself.

His guilt at observing her without her knowing that he was awake crescendoed until he whispered, “Amy.”

She jerked and gasped and froze. When she tried to squirm away from him, he gently resisted, cooing, “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry, Jerry,” she sobbed. “It was so cozy and warm and it’s been so long since I felt horny. I thought I could rub one out without disturbing you. When I felt your erection I think I got carried away. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Don’t be,” he reassured. “I’m just glad I didn’t wake up humping your leg from a wet dream.”

“I guess I should go back to my bed,” she sighed sullenly. “Maybe in the morning, we can pretend this never happened.”

“If that’s what you want,” he said, “but I would rather you stay and finish what you were doing and we could go back to sleep and wake up together.”

After a long moment of stillness, she took a deep breath as if she had reached a decision and slowly began moving her arm again. Jerry resisted the temptation to participate, responding only minimally as her body moved against him.

After a few minutes, her whimpers suggested she was having trouble reaching her objective. Her body jerked more in frustration than anticipation. Finally, she stopped with a huff.

He so much wanted to caress her but restrained himself, giving her the chance to decide what she wanted.

“Jerry….” Her musical voice broke the tension. “It’s crazy, I know…. I’m sorry… we haven’t really decided.”

“It’s okay, Amy,” he spoke softly in her ear. “Whatever you want.”

“You’re so sweet, I don’t want to mislead you,” she hesitated, then blurted out, “but right now I want you inside me while I play with myself. I don’t know if that counts as sex or not, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Jerry knew when not to say anything. He slid his sweatpants and boxers to his knees, prompting her to do the same. Being in his own bed meant the darkness and the fact that his right arm was underneath her neck did not impede his retrieving a condom from his nightstand, tearing it open with his teeth and his free hand, and installing it. A small adjustment in position had his rigid pole poking against her pussy and she immediately pressed the head into her opening.

She wiggled back against him, her fingertips caressing his balls to assure she had his full length before they returned to stroking her folds.

“Mmmm, just like that,” she purred, convincing him not to start thrusting.

Jerry’s heart and mind raced and his crush-cretin celebrated its long-sought triumph. He wanted to fuck her; by the least movement of her hips, she certainly could have shown she wanted him to, but she did not. Instead, she hardly moved as her hands added liquid sounds to her increasingly ragged breathing. His cock throbbed in her hot grip, sending shocks into him when he felt her more frequent twitches.

Her airy moans became higher pitched and shorter until her silence and rhythmic clench heralded her orgasm. Feeling her relax in his arms gave him breathtaking joy.

On any other day with any other partner, Jerry would have considered what happened next premature and a disappointment. But with hardly more movement than the release of tension in her body, his organs ignited.

“Oh, Amy,” he exhaled against her cheek, telling her of his satisfaction if she was unable to sense the pulsing inside her.

Whether her subtle twerking was intended to extract the last dregs of pleasure from her flesh or his, it likely did both. He had slipped out of her by the time her regular breathing indicated her slumber and he followed suit.

In the morning light, Jerry blinked his eyes open to Amy’s face inches from his. “So I guess that was a date,” she smirked.

Although she had reraised her sweatpants, his were still around his knees, confirming that it hadn’t just been a wet dream.

Over breakfast, they planned a few events through the end of the year. Then Amy headed home, leaving his intellect to contemplate—and his libido to wallow in—the developments.

*****

Amy and Jim had a regular annual December reservation for a cabin at Yosemite. They preferred going when it wasn’t as crowded with tourists and didn’t mind the cold and snow. She had planned to cancel it but, when she mentioned it to Jerry, he said he would love to see the park in the winter.

The dusting of snow made it seem like a fairyland to him as she led him around some of her favorite spots. The shorter days chased them back indoors where he made dinner and she lit some logs in the fireplace. The lodging was designed to accommodate a variable number of people, so there was a futon couch in the living room that could be converted into a bed. There were more comfortable beds elsewhere, but after eating they decided that the futon on the floor in front of the fireplace was the coziest place to snuggle.

“Thanks for taking it easy on me today,” Jerry said, knowing her pace and distance would have been greater with Jim.

“You did fine,” she assured him. “It was fun to revisit spots I hadn’t seen in a while. Usually, Jim and I would have some challenges to accomplish. It was nice just to take time to appreciate the wonder of this place.”

She leaned to kiss him deeply. “Thanks for convincing me not to skip this. I would really have missed it.”

“Thank you for sharing it with me.” He returned the kiss, his hands stroking her back and rear end.

They hadn’t had sex since that first unusual time, but Jerry felt that things were right for a normal encounter. He popped a button or two on her top and she reciprocated. Unfastening her jeans, he opened her shirt to see her humble breasts. As usual, she wore no bra, her palmfuls not requiring support or constraint. He massaged them gently, thumbing her nipples as he kissed her lips.

When she had unzipped him, he broke and kicked his pants off, then pulled hers off as well. Kneeling between her legs, he bent to kiss her face, neck, and chest. Her nubs stood tall even before he arrived to suck them gently. Her fingers tousled his hair but she was otherwise content to let him drive.

He nuzzled his way around and past her navel until he reached her cotton panties. Blowing warmth through the fabric, he was excited to note the spring of her hair beneath. As he drew them down her thighs, he almost whistled, sighing at the beauty before him. The untamed blonde curls formed a triangle that extended lower to frame the divide where full, chewable lips protruded.

To let him remove her underwear, she briefly raised her legs then lowered them apart. Jerry stared at the most beautiful pussy he had ever seen. Like one of those Georgia O’Keeffe flowers, it lured him closer while making him pause to appreciate its architecture. If Amy had sensed any hesitation and worried it might be because of her less-fashionable fur, he left no doubts as he luxuriated in her bush. Inhaling her scent from it, stirring it with his nose, and stroking it with his fingers, he paid homage to the natural ornamentation so many discard.

Her tempting aroma drew him lower and his tongue parted her inner lips. He drew them into his mouth, nibbling their meaty thickness. His tongue roamed her folds, making them slick with a combination of her juices and the saliva her taste inspired. Enjoying the feast she offered, he took his time exploring and gauging her responses to different techniques at different locations.

When he teased her opening with a wet finger, she squirmed in appreciation. He probed inside as he lapped, adding a second and a third, recalling her desire to be filled. The unrestrained way that she had worked herself that night encouraged him to be bold; her wordless utterances guided him as well as any scientific instrument. Her tensing thighs confirmed he had found a good recipe. Using his lips to scrub her folds over her most sensitive spot while churning his fingers inside her did the trick.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Yes!” She reached for her release as Jerry forged ahead. “Oh… yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes,” she sang as she writhed with pleasure. After a couple breaths, she pulled him next to her and hugged him tightly.  “Make love to me,” she whispered.

Understanding what she meant, Jerry put aside the quip that that’s what he had been doing. Kneeling between her legs, he retrieved the condom from his pants and unrolled it onto his more-than-ready penis. She spread and raised her legs and he sank into her open and gushing tunnel.

Looking down at her face and chest, still pink from her climax, he watched her soft mounds gently bob with his movement. He alternated taking in that view with bending to kiss her and feel her softness against him. His ability to control himself was strained by the fact that this wasn’t just a gorgeous woman but was Amy, for whom he had suppressed his lust over many years. Despite her meeting his thrusts with enthusiasm, he could not allow this to be over so soon.

He varied his pace and intensity, but as much as he wished to, he doubted he could last long enough to make her cum again, assuming she could or wanted to. Thinking there might be a way, he hugged her and rolled underneath her. With her on top, she was in a better position to determine and achieve that result.

Bathed in the light of the flames, her skin had a golden luster. He grabbed her dancing tits as she rode him. Jerry groaned his excitement and whimpered his approach to the edge. Amy’s attitude seemed to change and he surmised she sensed another peak was within reach.

“I’m gonna cum,” he warned when he knew there was no way to stop the approaching tsunami.

“Me, too!” she squealed as she accelerated her bouncing.

He was relieved that she closed her eyes as the ecstasy overtook her. His o-face was no work of art. But the serene beauty of hers was worth seeing even if he hadn’t been exhilarated by his eruption. That image of her—looking up at her expression of saintly joy, her face and chest ablush with passion and aglow from the firelight—would be his treasured memory of her for the rest of his life.

She teetered above him until her grinding against him yielded no additional delight for either, then collapsed onto him. His slowly roaming hands sought to caress every inch of her. The crackling heat kept them from needing to cover themselves as their sweat dried so they remained comfortably conjoined until necessity required.

Snow fell most of the next day making it too dangerous to be out on the trails. They instead played in the snow near the cabin, making snowmen and snow angels and throwing snowballs until they were too cold. Retreating inside as the afternoon shadows fell, they again settled in front of the fire for more lovemaking.

On their last day, Amy showed Jerry how to help put chains on her SUV so they could safely drive out of the park and back to the city. Because of the bad road conditions in the mountains, it was late before she dropped him at his apartment and continued on to her house.

*****

Jerry had hired his usual car service for a night on the town. It was convenient not having to drive and worry about parking as they made stops across the city. They started at a French restaurant in the Sunset district.

“I’m just saying you need to start looking around, to be aware of possible candidates,” Jerry explained after they ordered. “It will be fun. I don’t know how many guys you’ll see tonight or how many will seem interesting to you. Certainly many will be unavailable—at the moment, you never know. You know guys are always checking you out, don’t you?”

Amy was still skeptical, but admitted, “Yeah, most guys can’t help gawking at women.”

“I’d say all guys,” he laughed. “The ones who don’t seem to be are just better at hiding it!”

When Jerry asked her what she thought of the waiter, Amy said she hadn’t paid much attention to him.

“You don’t want to stare, but as you see men around you, just make a quick judgment. Too old, too young, man-bun, face tattoo, whatever.”

Jerry reached across to take her hand.

“You’ve been in a stable relationship for so long, you’re rusty. This is just a game, but it will help get some practice before you have to do it next month.”

When the waiter left after depositing their appetizers, Amy commented, “Definitely too young.”

“Pretty sure he’s gay, too,” Jerry winked.

The wine from dinner and the two-drink minimum at the comedy club was getting her in the spirit of the game. She evaluated the series of comics at the show.

“I know women say sense of humor is important,” she observed, “but even the ones I thought were really funny don’t seem plausible.”

“Performers are generally needy,” he concurred. “I think you would prefer someone who doesn’t need constant applause.”

There were a few people in the audience she considered possibilities.

“Beware the ‘other woman’  syndrome,” he warned. “A man with an attractive woman automatically makes him seem more attractive. Picture him alone in a bar offering to buy you a drink.” Perhaps the jovial atmosphere and the often raunchy jokes made Jerry cruder than usual. “He’s looking for someone to suck his cock. Are you interested?”

Amy gave him a shocked look.

“Sorry,” he apologized, “I should have put that differently. But you get the idea. If you can already tell that’s never going to happen, don’t let him buy you a drink.”

Riding across the bay to a club for some late-night jazz, Amy mused, “Maybe the city isn’t the best place for me to find someone.”

“I expected as much,” Jerry agreed, “but I wanted to get you thinking about it. The same principles apply when you run into someone on a hiking trail or at the supermarket.”

The group played a variety of music from standards to experimental pieces. They closed with a sensual number that featured solos by each of the players. Jerry hoped he could maintain the mood until they got to his bedroom. His usual driver helped by closing the partition window and curtains to give them privacy for the forty-minute ride back to his place.

Perhaps emboldened by the alcohol, Amy teased, “I only found one guy tonight whose cock I would want to suck.” She reached for his zipper. “Is this allowed?” she nodded toward the front of the car.

“Mike is very discreet. But we can’t make a mess,” he cautioned.

In the dark with tinted windows, they could see out but could not be seen by surrounding cars or trucks.  He unfastened his pants and she extracted his swelling organ from his boxers.

She licked his length before taking it between her lips. It wasn’t a stretch limo, but there was enough space for her to get on her knees between his legs. There was nothing for him to do but stroke her blonde curls as her head bobbed in the confined space.

Her hands pumped his shaft as her tongue swirled around the head. Seeing faces in adjacent vehicles added a layer of excitement despite his knowing they saw at best only their own dark reflections in the glass. Her skillful, insistent slurping soon had him ready to explode. As he squirmed, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Oh… Amy… I’m gonna cum!” he gasped as quietly as he could, ready to capture his ejection if necessary.

His contingency went unused as her lips stayed sealed around him while she sucked and jerked his shaft.

“That’s so good, that’s so good,” he whispered as he shot into her mouth.

He stroked her head and whimpered as she siphoned the final spurts from him, carefully raising her head so as not to leak a single drop. She looked at him and her grin seemed to light up the back seat as she swallowed his load. Stuffing his softening dick back in his pants, she helped him get zipped up before moving up next to him.

“Why don’t you lie across the seat,” he suggested, kneeling on the floor.

When she brought her legs up, he lifted the flap on her calf-length wrap skirt. Her over-the-knee stockings meant only her panties needed to be moved aside as he leaned between her thighs. He licked his fingers and used them to part her folds as he gently tongued her.

“Is this okay?” he whispered. “We can wait until we get to my place if you’d be more comfortable.” He had been surprised by the blowjob and was worried the awkward position and time pressure might preclude her enjoyment.”

“Well you might as well get started,” she chuckled.

Although he would never mention it, hers wasn’t the first pussy he had licked on this seat and he had a favorite technique. Bending up her near leg, he ducked underneath it, addressing her slit perpendicular to his usual angle. It aligned his lips with hers and meant his back-and-forth tongue moved up and down her folds.

She sighed and seemed to relax a bit as he worked. He hadn’t had much time to warm her up, and the cocksucking might have been more work than play. Still, he tenderly and persistently stirred her flesh as he made her slippery regardless of her level of excitement.

He caught only brief glimpses of her face as the passing lights illuminated it. Slipping his tongue between her lips, he sucked them between his, drawing a soft moan. She pulled her knee to her chest, opening herself wider. His finger found warm liquid forming, so he slipped it inside.

Lapping across her clit and corkscrewing her cunt made her squirm and gasp. “Woo! You have me going now!” she sighed.

They were off the freeway and Jerry was trying to guess how much farther they had to go based on traffic starts and stops. He didn’t dare take the time to raise his head to see where they were. Not wanting to risk switching to something different, he kept going, a little faster and a little harder.

He hoped the tension he felt building in her body was the right kind as he slurped and probed, her soft moans reassuring him. “Oh, yes!” she sighed with some urgency. “Oh, yes!” she repeated, her hand pulling his head tighter against her.

Jerry knew how to follow directions and increased his intensity.

“Oh… oh… oh… oh…,” she whimpered then, after a long pause, she hissed, “yessss… yessss… yessss….”

Jerry continued his performance through her climax until she quaked and lowered her leg. Trapped against her, he kissed and licked her slippery folds, drying her somewhat.

The movement of the car alerted him to their pending arrival.

“Oops!” he laughed, wiping his dripping face against her inner thighs, extracting himself, and putting her skirt in order.

Amy giggled as she swung her legs down, giving him room to slide up next to her. They were kissing as the car stopped and Mike came and opened the door. She staggered a bit as Jerry helped her to her feet, cum drunk as well as tipsy from the night’s libations.

“Five stars as always.” Jerry handed the driver his usual generous tip. “You probably want to air it out, but I don’t think we left any evidence,” he chuckled.

*****

They decided to spend Christmas Eve at her house in the woods. After dinner, they exchanged presents.

“Merry Christmas, Jerry!” Amy gave him a kiss and delivered some brightly wrapped boxes. “I got you some things but, as you’ll see, they might be as much for me as for you.”

Jerry unwrapped hiking boots and a backpack.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but the ones you have are really not that good. These will make it easier when we go on longer hikes and I won’t worry about you so much.”

He was confused when he discovered the next box contained shimmery kelly-green fabric. Leaping to her feet, Amy pulled out what turned out to be a dress and held it against her body.

“This is for me to wear on New Year’s Eve!” she giggled. “You know I don’t have fancy clothes.” She pointed to the last box. “I even got matching high heels, if I can remember how to walk in them.”

Jerry rose and gave her a kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Amy!” He handed her what could have been a box of candy. “It’s not as fun as yours, but it’s something you can use. It was too big to wrap,” he explained as she found the box contained only a manual. “And it requires professional installation.”

“A solar backup battery? That’s too much, Jerry!” she exclaimed, giving him a hug.

“You’re more capable of managing without electricity than anyone I know, but they shut down power lines more often these days. This will at least make it easier to keep in touch until they turn them back on. It should be able to keep your essentials going for a week, even longer if it’s sunny enough.”

“You’re so thoughtful.” She gave him a grateful kiss.

As they held each other, their mouths and hands became more explicit.

“Jerry,” she said, taking his wrists in her hands and stepping back, “there is something else I want for Christmas.” She laughed at her words, and continued, “That wasn’t how that was supposed to sound. There is something I want, but it just happens to be Christmas.”

“Your wish is my command, Amy,” he smiled.

“No, that’s the problem,” she stamped her foot with a mock frown. “You treat me like a princess. That’s okay some of the time, but I’m not a delicate flower.”

Jerry met her eyes, trying to understand what she was saying.

“I don’t just want you to make love to me. I want you to fuck me.” He almost winced to hear her say the word that way. “For once, be the predator instead of the pet.”

She turned, still holding one wrist, and led him to the bedroom. Jerry noticed that there was a towel spread on the sheet and lube and condoms on the nightstand.

“Show… me… your… passion….” She unbuttoned his shirt as she spoke. “I… want… you… to….” She squatted and unfastened and unzipped his pants, then yanked them down, declaring, “fuck me from behind like a wild animal!”

Jerry saw the desire in her eyes as she looked up at him. It was true that his years of suppressing his attraction to her—and how lucky he felt to be with her now—had made him more cautious compared to his usual approach to women. He stepped out of his pants and shrugged off his shirt as his pulse pounded louder in his ears as if the depraved demon inside him were jumping up and down.

Pulling her to her feet, he undressed her, peeling off not just clothes, but the barriers he had erected. No more a friend, nor the wife of a friend, nor the unattainable paragon. When she stood naked, her breathing showing her hunger like a bitch in heat, he grabbed her boob with one hand while his other arm pulled her tight against him. He kissed her hard as his unbidden erection was sandwiched between their bodies.  

Sensing his transformation, Amy gasped and gulped when they broke their kiss. Her voice was low. “Fuck me deep and make me cum.” Her eyes locked on his. “Then cum in my ass.”

Her words were like a post-hypnotic suggestion, triggering a primal response. He picked her up and tossed her into the bed, grabbing her legs to turn her onto her hands and knees and pulling her ass back towards him.

She looked back over her shoulder, gyrating her butt. “Smack my ass. Make me wet for you.”

He gave one cheek a sharp forehand and the other a backhand. His other hand slipped into her folds and discovered emerging dampness. Poking and massaging made her squirm as he alternately grabbed and spanked her firm cheeks.

Their eyes locked as he slowly licked his fingers, to savor her taste and scent more than to augment her slickness. His fingers probed her lower opening while his thumb circled her upper, making her moan. She seemed ready and he was more so.

As Jerry grabbed a condom, a fleeting thought passed through him. Amy had a specific scenario in mind. Was this how Jim liked to do it? Or was it something she wanted that he wouldn’t do?

The questions evaporated as he addressed the hindquarters presented to him like a feral feline. Below the pending pucker, wet hair parted to display dangling curtains around that beckoning entrance. Standing against the bed, he seized her hips and pulled her onto his pole.

He started shallow with an easy pace. She met his movements, pushing back to encourage him deeper as he opened her. When she turned her head, the lust that was building in him was no longer tempered by the sight of her angelic face. As she lowered her shoulders to the mattress, he felt challenged to show her what deep was.

“Ooof!” she cried when the tip of his cock felt resistance.

“Sorry!” He backed out a bit and paused. “Was that…?”

“Yeah, my cervix,” she sighed. “It’s alright, just a surprise. Jim would rarely reach it. It seems like it moves around,” she chuckled.

“I’ll try to avoid it,” he promised.

“No, I like to massage it sometimes when I masturbate. Just take it easy. Slow pressure is better than knocking against it. Try it.” As he slowly pushed deeper she leaned back until his cockhead touched it. “Oh, that’s nice,” she cooed as she tentatively ground her hips. “It’s not enough to make me orgasm, but it adds a strange and intense dimension if I do.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jerry cackled as he clapped her ass. His cock was throbbing, enfolded by her hot grip, but he wanted to reclaim the mood. Careful not to exceed the limit, he began fucking again and was soon back to the speed and depth before they were interrupted.

Several times, he stopped and gingerly dove to probe that sensitive spot for a bit to mix those sensations with the traditional ones. But it was his ever-faster thrusting that drove them both toward their peaks.

“I’m so close,” she groaned. “Do it again and I’ll cum.”

Jerry gave her another fast twenty of his best then sank in to the limit. He felt Amy’s fingers washboarding her clit as his bulb nudged her cervix. Her body spasmed as she made the most beautiful gurgling sound that neither of them would ever forget nor admit ever happened. She writhed as the ecstasy washed through her, her dancing ass mesmerizing him until with a long sigh she slumped forward.

With his burning cock jutting above her, the pressure in his organs demanded to be released. Looking down at her limp form, he didn’t know if the script had been rewritten. Picking up the lube, he decided to proceed as if it hadn’t.

Smearing a palmful onto his pole he dribbled a puddle into her crack before using his fingers to swirl it into her butthole. Her languid figure offered no protest. Rather than raising her to her previous position, he simply lowered himself onto her prone torso and aligned his cock with her back door.

In post-orgasmic stupor, she was certainly relaxed enough to admit him without difficulty. He drilled into the tightness with only a minimum of involuntary clenching. Her climax had pushed him back from his edge only slightly and he knew it would not take much to set him aflame.

Her soft moan turned into a sigh. “Yes, Jerry. Cum in my ass.” She almost sounded asleep. “I can be filthy, too.”

The lube made it easy for him to slide in and out, her spontaneous contractions forcing him to regain his incursion. His hormones as well as his unleashed base desires sparked his hips to move and the feel of her body beneath his ignited a firestorm of pleasure through him. The stranglehold of her ring on his shaft held back the ecstatic pressure until it could no longer be contained and gushed forth accompanied by jolt after jolt of euphoria.

Feeling as drained as she seemed to be, he collapsed on top of her. His softened dick slipped out, but he kept it nestled in her slimy buttcrack. When the afterglow faded, she was happy to wear him like a heavy, lumpy quilt although he felt guilty about mashing her against the mattress.

Amy finally broke the spell by quipping, “So now can I get to be on Santa’s naughty list?”

Jerry rolled off her and gave her backside a swat. “You can be on my naughty list anytime you like!”

They cleaned up and took a shower together before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

*****

It was late afternoon New Year’s Eve when Amy knocked at his apartment.

“Don’t look,” she called through the door as he went to open it. “I’m not ready yet.”

Jerry kept his eyes closed as she kissed him on the cheek and scurried to her bedroom and closed the door. He shaved, showered, and donned his celebratory tuxedo, ready for a night of dinner, dancing, and a New Year’s toast.

As the time of their car pickup approached, Amy opened her door a crack and instructed, “Sit on the couch and close your eyes.”

When she told him to look, he almost didn’t recognize her in the shimmering green garment he had seen on Christmas Eve. She posed like a model, with one shapely leg extending through the thigh-high slit and one arm raised behind her styled hair that made her look like a movie princess. The sleeveless dress exposed her shaved armpit. Some magic of undergarments had arranged her economical endowment into cleavage in the plunging neckline. Earrings, a necklace, and the matching high heels completed the outfit.

“Wow!” was all Jerry’s astonished brain could produce for many seconds. When he could form a sentence, he rhapsodized, “Amy, this is a side of you I’ve never seen.” Or imagined, he thought. “But it’s as beautiful as all your other sides.”

He leaped up to hug and kiss her, but she interposed her hand, laughing, “It took three tries to get the lipstick right. I don’t want you to smear it before we even get to dinner!”

Substituting an exchange of cheek kisses, they fetched their overcoats and descended to the arriving driver.

Dinner was on the waterfront in Berkeley, with a clear view of the San Francisco lights.

“It always makes me think of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. When I’m going over the Bay Bridge, it’s like I’m on the Yellow Brick Road,” he enthused.

“I see that,” Amy admitted, “but I prefer the view from the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. I look down and try to imagine what the valley looked like when Ansel Adams first visited it.”

They cuddled next to each other as they shared dessert. Their eyes resignedly acknowledged their awareness that they were not destined to be together.

“Our Rebound Pact will expire soon, but at least it’ll go out with a bang!” Jerry said as he helped her into her coat.

“And I want to get my money’s worth from this outfit before we’re done!” Amy laughed.

They rode back into the city to a lavish but private party thrown by a tech billionaire. Jerry had saved him from a multimillion-dollar mistake years earlier and they had become friends. Although not in his social circle, he did get invited to events like this, and would sometimes accept to impress a date.

There was entertainment and music for dancing and yet more food and drinks. Amy finally took off her heels when dancing, noting several other women doing the same. When the midnight toast arrived, Jerry did his best to smear her lipstick and ended up wearing a substantial amount of it.

Repairing their lips, they made the rounds to bid goodbye and wish “Happy New Year!” Jerry tried not to gloat at the way people looked at Amy, knowing they thought more of him with her on his arm. Although he thought such superficial admiration would mean little to her, he hoped there might be some reinforcement for her self-esteem as she prepared to reenter the dating scene.

When they arrived back at his apartment, Jerry took her coat and hung it up, slipping off his jacket and tie and loosening his collar. From across the room, he took what he supposed would be his final look at her in this attire.

“Ah, wait,” he interrupted her as she bent to unstrap her shoes.

Taking her hand, he led her to the couch and seated her. Kneeling, he removed her shoes, briefly massaging and kissing her no-doubt sore feet. He continued up her calves, knees, and thighs, reaching under her dress to find the top of her pantyhose. She lifted her butt when he tugged them down, sighing as he peeled them off. His fingers stroked the smooth legs they left behind. Despite his enjoyment, he didn’t linger, not wanting to make it seem like he preferred her hairless state.

Rising, he urged her to her feet. As he kissed her, he unzipped the back of her dress. Drawing it off her shoulders and down her arms, he reached behind to unhook her bra. He caused another sigh when he uncupped her breasts, allowing them to settle into their natural positions. When he bent to ease her dress past her hips, his lips found a nipple to suckle for a moment.

“Well this seems unfair,” she chuckled as she stepped out of the puddle of her clothes wearing only a thong.

She unbuttoned his shirt and began to work on his belt. Leaning on her for balance, Jerry kicked off his shoes and scraped his socks off with his feet, so when she released his pants to the floor, he, too, stepped out of a pile of cloth wearing only underpants.

“There’s something I haven’t shown you that I think you may like,” he said, leading her to the windows. Where the curtain was retracted, there was actually a door opening onto a small balcony.

“I know you aren’t afraid of heights since you like to look over the edge of cliffs but this is a little different.” He knew the balcony railing was solid but he still winced to see her gleefully lean out over it to look to the street below. It was a clear, crisp January night, so even the distant lights of the North Bay were visible, as well as the city lights including some extra for the holiday season.

Pointing up, he conceded, “Nothing like the night sky at your place, but still nice when the weather is like this.”

Seeing her nipples hardened by the cold, he decided not to wait for them to get too chilled.

“I want to try something,” he suggested, pulling her into a hug. “It’s sort of tantric, but I don’t take it too far.”

He pointed to a yoga mat he had laid out, then stripped off his boxers and settled into an easy lotus position. It had been a while since he could do a full lotus without regretting it for the rest of the day. Gesturing for her to stand in front of him, he drew her thong off, smiling to confirm that her crotch had been spared the razor. The temptation was too great, and he took a moment to nuzzle her curls.

“Now you sit here,” he tapped his thighs, “and wrap your legs around me.”

Looking down, he was disappointed to see how the cold had affected his equipment, but he hoped her naked proximity would soon counteract the temperature. Indeed, as she settled her cheeks against his thighs and leaned her chest against his, the relative warmth of her skin stirred his embers.

“It’s more about communion than sex,” Jerry explained. “If it’s too cold, we can go inside, but with the air and the view and the sky, I feel closer to nature, even though I’m in a high-rise in a city.”

“I get that,” Amy agreed. “As for sex, Jim and I have done it outdoors in the snow, so….” She trailed off in the memory.

“It’s okay to remember him, to miss him.” In the dim light, he couldn’t see her expression clearly, but it wasn’t hard to guess her thoughts. “It’s not polite to mention them at times like this but, of course, there are women who I remember and miss. And I know someday I will be remembering and missing you. But I don’t want that to diminish the closeness we are sharing right now.”

She held his head and kissed him, gently at first, but gradually firmer and deeper. He cradled her head as well as they broke to gaze into each other’s eyes then joined again.

“Have you tried shared breathing?” he asked.

“No, how does that work?”

“First, we synchronize our breath, slowly inhale through our noses and exhale through our mouths.” After a few breaths, they had achieved it. “Then I will pause for your exhale and I will inhale it. Then when I exhale, you can try to inhale it back through your mouth.”

Jerry savored her first breath, but she broke when he passed it back.

“That feels weird,” she giggled. “But let’s try again.”

Before long, they were able to complete the cycle several times. Versus the crisp night air, the warm atmosphere they exchanged imparted not just physical warmth, but spiritual and erotic as well. Gradually, the desire to kiss or hug or squirm disrupted them.

After one adjustment in position made it obvious to both that his full erection was poking into her folds, she teased, “Should we?”

“This is where I part ways with strict tantric practice,” he chuckled. “I don’t believe in semen retention!”

The yoga mat wasn’t the only thing Jerry had laid out. Under the corner, he found the condom he had stashed in anticipation of this possibility. She lifted up enough for him to install it, then lowered herself onto it.

The heat of her internal grip felt intense compared to the warmth of her skin exposed to the night or even the warmer areas where their bodies pressed together. Like all of their activities joined like this, things moved slowly but intensely. In other situations, they would no doubt seek a variety of caresses and tempos, but deliberate breathing and methodical rocking invited no urgency as they ascended an infinite spiral staircase. The increasing throb of their hearts against each other and the beckoning taste of ecstasy that they found on each other’s tongues hinted that there was a destination, but they were not yet ready for the dance to end.

In that embrace, they absorbed the tantric way of being rather than doing. As when they had tangoed earlier, their souls circled around each other, without apparent direction yet remaining in sync. With the only music disturbing the silence being the sound of their kisses, soft moans, and sighs, they had no harbinger of the approaching but inevitable conclusion.

With an involuntary gasp, Amy shivered and whimpered, hugging him tighter. Recognizing her transition, Jerry groaned as his balls twitched and surrendered to the ebb and flow of their pas de deux.

She ground her body against him, her head next to his so he heard her quiet “Oh… oh… oh!” before a long slow tremolo moan.

Involuntarily, his hips thrust as the pleasure pulsed through him and he released his potency deep inside her. In their tight clinch, they kept the rhapsody echoing between them.

Neither wanted to admit that the glow of rapture was dimming, so they stayed motionless, fused together until their heartbeats coasted to normal. A shared shiver reminded them of their chilly environment and they retreated inside to a warm bed.

Settled with limbs intertwined, the last thing Jerry saw before he turned out the light was her face, as he had seen her on the top of El Capitan or emerging from the surf holding an abalone—radiantly smiling with delight and satisfaction.

Dawn would launch them into the New Year and their return to their separate worlds. But these weeks had shown them that they could travel between them and each could appreciate what the other’s held. It would not be their last sojourn together.