Catching Fire Pt. 09

Author's Foreword: This series has themes of romance, sex, friendship, humor, safe and consensual BDSM, and above all, intimacy and the concept of memory. Any resemblance to real people or events is coincidental. I want you, reader, to come away with more empathy, appreciation, and joy for yourself and others than you began. As I did when writing this.

Note on Part 9: I wanted the writing pendulum to swing away from lyrical and more towards physical. Also, we return to some light BDSM for our little pair. We'll see where the next one takes us. As always, I sincerely appreciate your ratings, follows, and especially comments.

***Early Summer***

"Again," I said. Erin, sprawled in my lap with her head leaned back onto my shoulder, was still gasping from the one she'd just finished. She smelled of lilac and semen, hair plastering to me as she whimpered and begged for a rest.

"You can end this game whenever you want to," I reminded her, "But until then, you'll do what I say. Makes you wonder why we haven't stopped yet, doesn't it?" I felt her shift against me, attempting to angle her body so she could face me.

"Ah-ah," I corrected, tugging at the leash that was clipped to her collar, "No turning around yet. Come on, Pet." Pouting, she scooted forward in my lap and spread her legs back into a wide near-split, beginning to massage her pussy for me, watching herself masturbate in the standing mirror just a few feet away.

"Look at that goddamn fox," I rumbled, playing with long pauses between my words to pull her along, "Lithe. Flexible. Sexy. All those freckles, those curls. That incredible, pretty, needy little slit. And you're doing exactly what I say because you fucking love it. Such a good, good girl." I smacked her firm bubble of an ass for emphasis and she started to struggle with her rhythms, her body screaming to me that she was close. I was learning that the timing between her orgasms got shorter the longer she went. She begged me for another slap, and I gave her what she wanted with more than a little force. She shouted in un-protest and rubbed herself harder.

"Turn around," I said, enjoying her obvious pleasure at the timbre of my voice, "the mirror's seen enough for tonight." She reversed faster than I could have guessed, frantically reaching down to bring me out.

"Ssst," I admonished. She stopped, breathing heavily, locking furious eyes with me. There it was: the fire. I cupped her between her legs, fingers sliding over and into her as easily as wading into a perfumed river. She gasped and tilted her head back.

"No, Kitten," I said with another soft pull of the leash, "Look at me. I want to see it in your eyes. The whole time. If you can manage it, then I'll give you what you want." She nodded and we stole a searing kiss before my fingers began a gentle, quick, rolling tickle that started inside her and ended on her clit, each lift-and-return dragging another shiver from her.

"Harder," she urged, "Faster. All the way in. Do that - that thing. Yes, tha- shit!" My fingers went fully into her before curling back against her upper roof, quickly massaging the one spot that had a different, telling texture.

The next part wasn't planned, but sometimes those are best. Instincts are like smells. You follow them without knowing why sometimes, and they lead you to places your genes know about but always shroud in mystery from your waking mind.

I wrapped the leash once more around my hand, taking away the slack between us and pulling in with a slow creak of the leather, feeling the connecting tension between my bicep and her spine by a simple bit of animal skin. The look on her face was crashing illumination.

Erin's hands shot forward and gripped my shoulders like talons while her back arched to make the leash even more taut, gilded eyes boring into me as she climaxed.

"Fuck yes," she gasped, tensing and releasing in waves. She lunged forward to breathe one word against my ear.

"... Again."

***

***Mid Summer***

Erin had been the worst fucking brat all evening. I'd asked her to, but she'd really brought the heat and impressed me with how much of a bitchy, uncooperative, entitled little shit she could be and still inspire a sense of lustful admiration. She'd especially ramped up when I didn't react to it or take her to task. I'd made a show of writing down what she'd done and saying I thought she'd known better, but otherwise ignored her. Those impossible eyes of hers made it *so* hard.

Sure, I'd spanked her briefly over my knee, but nothing close to what I'd repaid her for much smaller transgressions before. We eventually fucked before turning in somewhat early, and it was good, but largely speaking I think she'd gone to bed with a certain degree of disappointment and loss about the apparent dud of a Silence game. If it had been earlier in summer, she might have kicked me out. She barely kissed me goodnight before rolling away and going to sleep.

All's fair in love and war. And all warfare is deception.

My phone alarm went off and I quickly silenced it before sneaking off to the bathroom. It was about three in the morning, and I wondered how much I actually cared. I could just as easily go back to sleep for another four or five hours and still get the point across afterwards. The guy in the mirror certainly wanted to go back to sleep, but the thought of catching Erin off guard was too exciting, and all of me was starting to wake up. Besides, if I waited until daylight, she might think I was trying to make up for the previous day. No, she needed to understand that this had been the notion all along. I washed my face, fixed my bedhead, brushed my teeth, and put on some cologne, then reached under the sink for the hand duffel I'd stashed.

When I returned to the bedroom, she was sprawled on her back in the middle of the bed, barely breathing, still naked under the top sheet and thin summer blanket. Earlier that evening, I had installed the under-bed restraint system in a few minutes while she was occupied, and it had been easy to conceal afterwards. I'd left the cuffs open when I stashed it, and my preparation was about to pay off.

My heart pounded in anticipation as I attached a cuff to one wrist, then the other, pulling her arms wide. She murmured in her sleep and shifted slightly, making her small breasts sway briefly. Dammit, I wanted to wake her with something savagely appreciative. Sticking to a plan was so difficult with her. Though her eyes were still shut, her face started to crinkle, and I hurried up. I got the cuffs attached to her ankles, leaving her loosely spread-eagled as she was about to come around. The sheet made a long, whispering sound when I tugged it away.

I eased my way down and began to eat her out with all the time in the world. Erin groaned, writhed, then gasped as she woke up and looked down her torso to me.

"Wha..." she mumbled, before realizing she couldn't move, testing her wrists and ankles.

"Shh," I urged, enjoying how her pleased sounds shifted into a small screech when I bit her thigh, then her navel.

"Someone's hungry," she joked, still half-dreaming. I didn't reply, instead moving to straddle her face, cock resting on her cheek.

"Open." Well, her face seemed to say, if you want to play, let's play.

"Gotta try harder than that," she said as she turned her head away, picking up where she'd left off a few hours before. She clamped her lips together.

"Not really," I replied as I gently but firmly pinched her nose shut.

It wasn't long before she started to struggle, and a few moments later she opened her mouth and gasped. I moved my hand to hold her forehead back by her hair, then picked up the handwritten list of her transgressions from the night stand and showed it to her.

"Congratulations: you annoyed me. So I decided to get you up early enough to show how sorry you are to me today."

"Promises, promises." Her smoky glare dared me to do something about it, to make good on her expectations of me and the fact that I'd woken her up.

With a shrug, I set the list to one side and then retrieved my little bag, setting it down on the nightstand next to her. I pulled out a new toy and laid it across her stomach. It was a polished, solid, flexible leather paddle about the length of my forearm, with a smooth plastic handle. Her eyebrows went up.

"Don't forget," I said directly, breaking character but not intent, "Be safe and communicate. I'm only in charge as long as you want me to be. We take care of each other. We know our safe words. I'm just me, you're just you. Ready for some fun?"

"You sneak!" she giggled while stretching as best able, "You planned this. Hell yeah I'm ready. Make me the *best* girl."

"Oh, I will. Now... open."

She seemed to roll the notion around in her head for a moment before refusing again. I shrugged and picked up the paddle, letting it slowly drag across her flat stomach. My hand traced her body with it, up her ribs and under her jaw, then down past her hips and knees, indulging in the prolonged hiss of leather on her skin.

With an almost lazy flick of my wrist, I let the first hit land where I'd bit her a few minutes before on her inner thigh, just an inch or two from her shaved valley. It landed with a light smack and ripple. After a pause, I repeated the slap a finger's width down towards her knee, almost entirely overlapping with the previous strike.

"Doesn't hurt much, right?" I asked conversationally. She said nothing, barely squinting as another stroke landed.

"It's not supposed to," I continued, "It builds, though."

*Slap.*

"And as your skin gets redder,"

*Slap.*

"It gives me more of a target. The important thing is to take my time. Go slow. Savor it. Watch how it makes you move. The muscle. The skin. The tiny bit of extra you've got that makes me want to fuck you all day. The way your pussy twitches with each hit. Oh, blushing? You didn't know that I could see it? Adorable. I wonder if your asshole is doing the same? We can find out later. Mm. I'm letting the thought of you distract me. So. As I start going back over my old work,"

*Slap.*

"Draft... after draft... after draft,"

*Slap* *Slap* *Slap*

"It starts to get a little more uncomfortable each time, doesn't it?"

*Slap*

"Until eventually one more straw is just too many."

*Slap* She flinched at that one.

"And then the really nasty little part is, I just keep going. Piling it on. No big steps, but lots of little ones. Getting just,"

*Slap*

"The right,"

*Slap*

"Shade,"

*Slap*

"Of,"

*Slap*

"Brat."

After I was feeling satisfied with her whimpering, I stopped and admired her leg, now with a blotchy collection of red kisses running in a relatively narrow band from crotch to knee. Erin yelped as I smacked her new stripe a few times with my palm, rough and appraising. I looked pointedly at her other, unmarked leg. She tried to hide various little trembles by shifting her weight and thrusting her hips at me suggestively. I ignored her and pinched her spanked thigh for another yelp.

"You know," I said, "I feel bad, because I'm going to take a while on your other leg, too. You need some entertainment above so you don't get bored, don't you?" She bit her lip, unsure of what to expect; excited and nervous. I loved making her feel that.

I went to my bag and retrieved another little prop: something that looked almost like a tube of toothpaste. Removing the cap, I squeezed a small dollop onto my finger.

"You might feel a slight burning sensation," I said dryly before gently massaging it deep into her breasts, then quickly wiping my hand clean on a towel and placing the tube on the nightstand.

I waited and watched as her look of confusion turned first to a gasp, then halting attempts to keep her surprise in.

"Did... did you - AH!" she snarled.

"Mmhm," I confirmed, "And if you piss me off again like you did last night, I'll use it in places you really won't like. So let's put that filthy little back-talking mouth to better use. Open, you blonde bitch."

She still had spirit, because she didn't comply, just stared at me with those lioness eyes. I smiled at her, unhurried as I retrieved a simple ball gag from my bag. Then I repeated my nose-holding trick long enough to get her mouth forced open, filling it with the cheap rubber so she could drool out her impotent defiance. Afterwards, I reapplied the burning jelly to her tits and a little to my nuts, because why not.

A medicinal smell filled the room along with the sound of her writhing and the slow, measured slaps as I began to work on her other leg. I gently clawed her ribs and stomach while I was at it. The constant stream of garbled, half-enunciated swearing made me shiver. It also helped distract me from the small bonfire I was experiencing down below. Still, it was dissipating quickly, and I made a mental note of the duration as she started to calm down.

Once her right leg resembled her left, I admired her and dragged my fingernails along her hot skin, straying up her center when I had the notion, sinking a finger deep into her pussy or slowly massaging over her asshole.

"Like to apologize?" I murmured, unbuckling her ball gag and dropping it on her stomach.

"Was I really that naughty?," she pouted. In response, I dragged the paddle across the somewhat virgin skin of her tits and pressed in with the relatively hard edge of the leather. She hissed in anticipation, and I cracked the toy down on her breast with a flick of the wrist.

"You knew that wasn't the right answer," I said evenly.

***

By the time I was finishing up with her chest, I could make her back arch with the barest touch, her voice and body responding to even a threat of punishment with increasing volume and panic. But she smiled at me when I asked if she wanted to stop. So I kept at it for far longer than I'd originally planned. If anything, she was the intimidating one.

"Last chance before I start getting strict: would you like to apologize?"

"Yes," she managed through her rapid, shallow breathing. I shifted to her side and pressed the paddle firmly against her pussy. She wriggled against it, seemingly unable to make up her mind between surging forward or shrinking back.

"Oh my God," she whispered, "Please, no. You... you don't..."

"You were saying?"

"I'm sorry I was such a brat," she gushed, "Please, I'm sorry."

"Mm. Not sure I believe you." I lightly tapped her with the paddle, grinning as she jumped.

"I'm. Sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" Another tap, a little harder.

"For being a bitchy little brat. Oh, please!"

"Getting closer," I urged, moving my next tap-slap a little higher to get a real squeal out of her, "But I want to hear you address me properly."

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I won't do it again. Promise."

"I said *properly,* slut." A very harsh blow and a resulting howl.

"I'm sorry, Sir! Shit, that stings!"

"You'll listen and follow instructions?"

The air whistled briefly as I brought the paddle down sharply.

She choked out a protest before quickly resuming her begging.

"Fuck! Fuck! I'm sorry! I should know better!"

"Want to prove it?"

*Smack*

"Ahh! Please, yes Sir, tell me what to do!"

"Take the next three hits without a sound. You like Silence, don't you?"

"Yes, Si-"

*Slap*

Her eyes welled up and her body shook, but she took it. The next one made her hips buck hard and she bit her lip, eyes squeezed shut and letting out crocodile tears. Then I waited and watched her as she quivered. With exaggerated care, I went down and dragged my tongue along the full length of her from spasming ass to dripping hole to rigid clitoris, bringing an almost noiseless, high-pitched scream from her.

"Perfect. Fucking. Slut," I growled, my tongue curling into her after each word.

"That's right," she gasped, chest heaving and cuffs jostling, "That's what I am... only sluts want it like this."

"Only *my* slut," I corrected, sucking her clit in and running my tongue along all of it.

"Only *your* good little slut, Luke... Sir... Luke... I... oh, God," she moaned, wrist and ankle restraints clinking as she tried to move against me, struggling to accept what she had asked me to give her.

Eventually, I stood up, retrieving the paddle. She was still riding the last orgasm, so I made sure she was looking at me before I brought the final strike down. She took it well, jerking once and crying out while staring at me in obvious need. I moved up along the bed and leaned in for a kiss. Her tongue slid along mine, tasting herself on me, her body going rigid as I once again traced her subtle curves with the paddle from knee to neck. I pulled back, bringing my rock-hard self to rest on her cheek again.

"Open." She ever-so-slowly complied, imploring me with her eyes and little sounds, and I felt the head slide just past her wet lips before they sealed around me. Inside Erin's mouth, her tongue coiled like a snake on a branch. A relieved moan juddered through both of us. I felt my heart skip when I saw, heard, and felt her hollow-cheeked suction, her tongue flutter against my shaft as her hot spit erupted all over me. I remember the furious urge in me to push forward, make her eyes roll back, hear her choke and see her convulse with pleasure as I held her by the hair and used her how we both loved.

Instead, I pulled back and placed the warm handle of the paddle in her jaw.

"Hold this while I get you ready for the next part," I said affectionately, patting her cheek and kissing her hair. She exhaled raggedly with simultaneous frustration and excitement, and I watched her tongue slither over the grip in reply. I smiled and teased her breasts with one hand as I watched her. Unclipping her restraints took only a moment, though I left her wrist and ankle cuffs on. I allowed her to stretch before I firmly guided her into a full pike, legs behind her head, exposing all of her intimacies. The cuffs clicked as I hooked her ankles together and crouched over her. It was pure joy to watch her gorgeous, lustful face and hear her eager, stifled voice. I loved hearing her non-words as I fingered her clit for luck.

"Much better. In fact, I'd say you're ready to start working off that list you forced me to write yesterday." Erin froze as I said 'start,' eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Her chin tilted delicately back as she drew in a shuddering breath.

"Oh, Kitten," I sighed, "I'll remember that look on your face."

***

The sun was about to rise. Not that we noticed.

"Damn, Erin," I said admiringly, "You've definitely been practicing like I told you." I jostled the new fresh-from-the-bag silicone plug in her butt, getting her to wriggle eagerly against my hand. It was larger than the one she was used to, yet aside from a fat dollop of lube, it hadn't taken much coaxing to stuff it in her eager little ass. It also had a small surprise she didn't know about yet.

"Hands and knees," I said, snapping my fingers, "Eyes closed. Come on, show yourself off, arch your back. Tummy in, tongue out. Good girl." I walked around to her front, adjusting her posture here and there before picking up the paddle again. Gently, so gently, I brought it up to caress her face.

"So good, in fact, that every time this lands on your skin, you're going to say that you're a good girl. If you show me you can do that, I have a gift for you. And you have a gift for me."

"You do? And I do?"

"Of course. Now, let's make sure you don't go anywhere." It took just a few moments to rearrange her into a kneeling doggy, cuffing ankle to ankle and wrist to wrist. Leaning down, I pressed my hand to her face and kissed her, savoring how sweetly she returned it.

The leather cracked loudly against her ass cheek, and she inhaled sharply, kissing me powerfully before drawing back and looking me in the eye.

"I'm a good girl," she whined, "And you know it."

"Anyone can be good once," I countered before bringing the paddle down sharply on her other cheek.

"I said I'm a *good* girl," she snarled.

"Twice as nice," I said approvingly. I moved around her, bringing the next hit across her center.

"Oh, yes, I'm a good girl," she sighed afterwards, resting her head on the bed and leaving her ass high. A grin carved its way across my face, and I watched carefully through the next few strikes, watching the beautiful jolts and ripples of her body, like heavy rocks thrown in a pond.

Even good girls needed so much discipline, so much reminding. And so much praise.

Such.

A.

Good.

Girl.

Rubbing her pussy, I gently tugged her butt plug out, savoring the little cry of pleasure from her and the way it made her asshole look so inviting before I corkscrewed it back in. I patted her thigh affectionately.

"Enjoying that?" I asked.

"I like how full I feel, Sir," she said, winking at me over her shoulder. I leaned down and kissed her hip before standing back up and swinging the paddle. Another crack rang out, another affirmation. I walked back around to her front, bringing her back to hands and knees.

"Suck." She didn't need me to repeat the order, quickly taking me in her mouth to show off her incredible skill. After an indeterminate minute I disciplined her ass again before she could really distract me. She shoved forwards a little further, mouth messily vibrating my cock as she tried to say how good she was. We both pulled back and looked at each other, laughing at the absurdity and relieved that we could do that with each other.

Coming up to her knees while upright on the bed, Erin draped her arms around my neck and smiled between the little kisses we darted in for.

"Come on," she said into the close and quiet space between us, her forehead against mine, our breath hot and shared, "You've proven I'm a good girl. Time to make me feel like a woman."

"Two more times," I whispered, tossing the paddle aside. My hand swatter her lightly and cupped one cheek of her ass.

"I'm your good girl, Sir," she giggled, kissing me again and bringing her hands to my face. I pulled her slowly to me, loving the way she smiled at it.

"That's right," I said, "Last one." I repeated the claiming slap on the other side of her ass. She froze for a moment and looked at me, then away. When she turned back, she had a different look in her eye, her smile shyer.

"I'm your good girl... Luke," she whispered. Before I could ask what she really meant, she was on me, driving away thoughts with her lips.

I gave her an encouraging shove, then took firm hold of her hips to bring her to me. Flipping her onto her stomach was easy, even rewarding as she laughed with pleasure and let me. It was easy to forget how small she was until I was manhandling her. I'm not a big guy, but I felt a need to be gentle with her. And yet she kept wanting me not to be - at least not all the time. She had her reasons and needs. So did I.

It was so fucking easy to slide between the slick, thin lips of her pussy, feel my foreskin roll back, like both of us pulling the curtains apart on a damn good play. The bed creaked in time with me as I pounded the thoughts right out of her, made her drool them out between her legs and wherever she gnawed at sheets and pillows.

"Fuck!" she whined, ass grinding against my hips, "Give it to me! Spank this slutty ass, Luke!" Her butt was already cherry-red, so I worked over some miraculously unspoiled bits of flesh. Then I found the back of her neck with my hand and forced her down to the bed, evoking a gasp of frantic excitement from her, followed by others as I ploughed in and out.

"Big, bad, thick wolf," she half-screamed in time to the creaking of old springs.

"I promised you a present," I panted, "But you've earned more than one."

"Jesus, Luke, if it's not your cock I don't want it right now."

"Lucky for both of us then," I laughed.

The dildo made a solid thud as I tossed it from the bag to the wet sheets near her head. She looked at it for a moment, then gasped as she ran her fingers along it.

"For me?" she exclaimed. I'd used one of those 'clone' kits for myself, opting for a transparent, semi-firm filling and a flared suction-cupped base. Though it was a little strange to see a copy of my dick, I also felt a lot of pride at her obvious excitement.

"Like it?" Erin was always more of a shower than a teller, and rather than respond to me, she pulled it over to start showcasing her approval.

"Almost perfect," she mumbled as her lips ran over it, "But no balls and no cum to suck out."

"Well I still want a job," I quipped, sharing in her laughter.

"You said you had two presents," she deflected, looking over her shoulder and arching an eyebrow. She brought up the dildo and demonstrated a few more things she could do.

"Yes, Ms. Erin," I replied while leaning over to kiss her shoulder, "I did." It was only a matter of following by touch. My main concern was making sure I could see how she reacted. Fingers finding the right purchase, I flicked the switch on.

"Oh *fuck!*" we shouted in unison as the new, thick, almost forgotten plug in her ass began to vibrate with intense, flowing waves. Trying to maintain whatever I had left of control, I slowly thrusted in and out of her sweet, hot, tight little self. Raising up a little, I was able to put one hand straight into her wonderfully soft, clean, blonde curls.

"Suck that other dick," I grunted to the shivering puddle underneath me, "Let's make you an airtight little fuck-slut."

"Ho-ol-y shit, YES," she stammered, hips shaking as she set to sucking the dildo well enough to make me jealous, even as I pumped her half to heaven and the plug sent random waves into both of us. Reaching around, I fanned her clit and listened to her try to scream around the thick cock in her throat. We gave each other what we both craved.

She let out a sharp, surprised cry as her plug shot out to hit me like a dart. It fell to the bed, still vibrating, and I quickly clicked it off, mainly looking at her quivering asshole. She contorted her sweat-draped body to look back at me and draw a finger around her relaxed asshole, her face begging for me to both not have seen what just happened and take advantage of it.

"Is that a request?" I drawled, reaching to the nightstand for the lube.

"Isn't it obvious?" she cooed.

"I saw," I assured her, spreading a generous amount over myself and her, "But I like hearing you say it."

"I want that lovely cock of yours up my ass. And... I want two of you."

While she spoke, she pulled away and shifted onto her back, dragging the transparent cock in her hand from pussy to mouth and back again, watching me with half-lidded eyes. She slowly drew her legs apart and shimmied her hips at me invitingly.

As I made my way to her, she massaged my copy-cock in both hands and traced her lips with it. She glanced up and down my body, then beckoned me in.

"Go slow," she murmured.

"Of course, sweet thing."

"I know. But also, I - I want to feel it. Every. Last. Inch."

I made sure of it.

The tight ring of her ass relaxed by degrees as I pressed inexorably into her. The initial pop-through made her lurch and sigh, while the rest needed more lube but less convincing, my hips listening to her surging lungs for steady signals of in and out, all the way to the base of my cock.

"Fucking... Big... Fuck," she grated out, "Now... more." Her hand flapped around until she found one of mine and pressed my gift to her into it. I teased her for a breath before finessing the tip in between her engorged lips. She let out a breathless, tiny scream. Then I started to move.

"Slow!" she gasped, "SlowslowslowslowFUCK! Oh... oh... oh, *hell* yes." I pulled my hips back, leaving the head still firmly in her, trying my best to slowly thrust the dildo in her pussy to the hilt at the same time. Her body seemed to want to roll the red carpet out; swallowing the stunt cock with ease while welcoming me in to her back room with lust and greed.

One of her hands went to the back of my head, gripping my hair and pulling me in for the kiss of my life. I returned it and thrust in hard. Her other hand felt around until she had a firm grip on my ass, encouraging me to stay balls-deep in her ass. I felt her breath catch more than once on my way, and I think I did the same, feeling the incredible, swollen, almost-too-much pressure inside her, nudging against myself through the wall of flesh.

"Tell me how you want me," I groaned, arms holding me up, temple held gently against hers, grinding slowly in and out of her, hand never stopping its flickering over her clit, drawing unholy sounds from her throat.

"M-move the cock a lit- a little at a time in my pussy... And you keep fucking my ass like you have been, Handsome: nice and deep and steady. Clit's motherfucking *phenomenal.* Get that two-cock rhythm just... right. Oh my God, just right! Uh-huh. Make me... oh, fuck, Luke, like THAT! Make me cum on those fuckin' dicks, like that, like that, like that! Like! That!"

"Good. Girl," I gasped, putting my everything into it. Into her.

***

"'I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.'

'They have none of them much to recommend them,' replied he; 'they are all silly and ignorant, like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.'"

I could see Erin in the mirror she kept over the bathtub, so it was easy to catch her smile. Dawn wasn't very old. The air coming in from the cracked window was still cool, still sounded like the last of the night-birds, clashing with the powerful steam of the hot water in the tub.

"Seriously?" I asked, skimming ahead, "This is really what you want?"

"Shut up and keep reading," she said confidently, drawing a soapy loofah along her limbs, "And yes, I know that's contradictory. Your fault. Anyway, slow down and enunciate, you brute."

"As you wish," I replied with a theatrical sigh, glancing up to see if she got my little joke and reference. She had, and returned my lopsided grin in the mirror before leaning back into the steaming water.

Turns out, her preference d'jour for aftercare was a precisely-made breakfast in bed, a luxurious bath, and a naked narrator for Ms. Jane Austen during the aforementioned soak. I was only too happy to oblige, though I was feeling a bit prideful and prejudiced about at least one of the selections.

"Wouldn't kill you to indulge in something with a plot anyway," Erin chided, a wet cloth over her eyes.

"You call this plot? Nothing happens! Oh, no: feelings! But wait, there's more: misunderstandings! And letters!""

"And what have you read this summer, most excellent lover?"

"... I've read the constellations on the map of your skin, my freckled desire."

"That's what I thought, you goddamn dork. Now *read.*" So I did, with a stiff upper lip. And other things when her hand drifted languorously up and out of the water to caress me.

A chapter or two later, her phone pinged, and we ignored it. Then mine went off a minute later. When I went to check it, I smiled and came back to sit on the bathtub's edge again.

"Can't it wait?" Erin mumbled drowsily.

"It's from Sarah." One eye popped open, then the other, and her smile could have lit a forest fire.

"Pray tell," she purred.

"'My back feels better. But I can't sleep. Can we fix that, too?'" I smiled as Erin squealed and water frothed between her wildly kicking her legs.

"Towel and phone, Darcy!" she crowed, standing up in all her sudsy, Aphroditic glory, "I knew it!"

***

***Mid Summer***

"I don't know," Sarah stammered.

"I get it, Sweetie; you're scared. But you've got my full permission. And I want you to. We want you to," Erin said, echoing me from a moment before.

"Trust us," I soothed, "Nobody will ever get hurt. It'll feel so good for all of us. You can do it." I kissed her for good measure, my arm wrapping around her encouragingly. She snuggled against me, and I was filled again with sensations of soulful, spiced teas and ripe, sun-warm fruits.

"Okay," Sarah said, gathering up her tiny, new bit of courage. Just then, I saw a small and undeniable spark take hold in her deep, brown eyes. All Erin and I had to do was breathe on it. Erin saw it too, and I felt the knowledge rip through her ready body as she lay across us.

"Again," Sarah said in a small, faint voice as she timidly tugged on Erin's leash.

***End Part 9***