The Politics of Control


"Meet me in front of the restaurant," Kate said over the phone.

"I'll be right there."

I flipped my cell phone closed and smiled to myself. I was 
already halfway to my car, and looked back at the big Antebellum 
house that was the Jazz Club. I imagined Kate, standing in the 
bar, slightly winded from her mad dash up the stairs, her leggy 
blonde friend staring at her in bewilderment.

The thought of Kate bolting out of the ladies' room and racing up 
the stairs, completely disheveled, appealed to me. I grinned at 
the thought. After the day I'd had, I needed a good laugh. All 
day I had spent my time counting (almost literally) the minutes 
until I could see her. When I finally _had_ seen her, I had been 
this close--I mentally held up my fingers, a hair's breadth 
apart--to having sex with her in the ladies' room. But I hadn't, 
and that's the other reason I was smiling. Instead, I had given 
her my phone number and told her to call me. Then I had walked 
out of the restaurant, leaving her hot and bothered.

She _had_ called me, and I had heard the desire in her voice. 
With another smile, this one of anticipation, I pocketed my cell 
phone and headed back towards the restaurant.

I was just rounding the side of the porch, heading for the front 
door, when it flew open. Still shrugging on her coat, Kate walked 
out onto the porch and looked the other way. I chuckled quietly 
and began walking towards her. At the sound of my footsteps, she 
turned towards me and her face softened. She finally got her coat 
situated and took a few steps towards me. I stopped, to let her 
approach me, and stuck my hands in my pockets, grinning the whole 
time.

She smiled as she walked towards me. When she saw my grin, she 
raised her eyebrows.

"What's so amusing?" she asked archly.

"You. Me. Us."

"So you think this is funny?"

I shook my head and tried to compose myself. "No, it's not really 
funny. But someday, we're going to look back on this and laugh." 
I couldn't help myself, and started grinning again.

"Oh? What makes you think we're going to be together long enough 
to reminisce?"

"Because you know what you like," I said teasingly.

Her eyes flew open in surprise.

"And I know what _I_ like," I said quickly.

She cocked her head to the side and looked at me, still 
bristling.

"I like you," I said simply.

Her face softened and then she smiled. She walked towards me and 
hooked her arm through mine. When she started to pull me with 
her, I resisted. Her brow creased as she looked at me 
expectantly. I pulled my hand from my pocket and slid it around 
her waist, pulling her close.

"Mmm," she said. "I can't wait to get you home."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Let's go."

I shook my head. "Not yet."

She half frowned. "Not yet? I called you. What more...?"

"Shhhhh," I said, and then kissed her. "I want to get to know you 
better."

"I'm a woman who wants to fuck you. What more do you need to 
know?" She ground her hips against me, and I almost gave in. "I'm 
not used to taking no for an answer," she said dangerously.

"Ah, good," I said, as lightheartedly as I could. "It'll build 
character."

Her eyes flew open in surprise, again, and I grinned shamelessly.

"Let's have some dinner, a nice bottle of wine, and get to know 
each other. Then we can see where things lead," I said.

"They'd better lead to my bed." She thought for a moment and then 
smiled ingeniously. "I know! Why don't we do things my way? I've 
got food at home, I've got wine at home, and we can get to know 
each other later. Right now, I need to be fucked."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Patience, Kate. Let's do things my 
way. I'll make it worth your while," I said seriously.

She leered at me and then pursed her lips in thought. With a 
mischievous twinkle in her eyes, she finally nodded. "Okay, we'll 
do things your way. But I think you're going to wish you'd done 
things my way after all."

"We'll see," I said.

I turned her towards the front door of the restaurant and pulled 
her close. Once back inside the Jazz Club, the hostess gave us a 
startled look. I chuckled ruefully to myself and had no trouble 
figuring out why. I had left several minutes before. Kate must 
have made quite a commotion, first when she flew out of the rest 
room, and then when she came bursting out the front door, looking 
for me. Now, we were back. Together.

I took Kate's recently donned coat and hung it in the cloakroom, 
then hung my own next to hers. When I stepped back to the stand, 
the hostess had composed herself and was looking at me with an 
air of professional competence. Her eyes were smiling, however, 
and I grinned in reply.

"Is the Jungle Room available?" I asked.

Kate looked at me inquisitively and the hostess smiled. She 
consulted her seating chart and then nodded.

"Could you put a table for two in there for us? We'd like to have 
a little privacy for our dinner."

"Certainly, sir. Just one moment."

As soon as she'd stepped away to find a busboy, Kate looked at 
me. Her look said she expected answers, and that I'd better start 
coughing them up.

"You know the dining room at the top of the stairs?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Behind that is what used to be an upstairs porch, or some kind 
of sun room. It's got a couch and a couple of chairs in it, but 
they also book it for small, private parties."

"I see."

"I don't know what they call the room, probably something boring 
like 'The Back Porch Room,' but we call it the Jungle Room."

"And why is that?"

I smiled guiltily and explained. "The furniture is this wicker 
stuff, and the upholstery is a big jungle print. The room is 
decorated with bamboo and... well... it's just jungle-ish," I 
said sheepishly.

"I see. Well, Tarzan, while they're setting up our room, I'm 
going to go freshen up."

My eyes flicked to the rest rooms and I nodded. I almost 
chuckled, but caught myself at the last moment. Kate's hair was 
mussed and her makeup, slight as it was, was a little smudged. 
Also, her clothes were disheveled, from when we'd gotten worked 
up in the ladies' room, earlier.

I admired the swing of her hips as she walked away, letting my 
eyes drift up the long line of her back, to her shoulders. With a 
guilty grin, I realized that she was watching me, over her 
shoulder. When my eyes met hers, she smiled, tossed her hair, 
then closed the rest room door behind her.

When she returned, she looked lovely. She had straightened her 
blazer and school-girl skirt, freshened her makeup, and brushed 
her hair. Her shiny, dark brown tresses flowed around her 
shoulders in a wave, and she smiled as she walked towards me. 
Something was different about her, I decided, but I couldn't 
figure out what.

Just then, the hostess returned, and I stopped wondering what it 
was. The hostess picked up two menus and a wine list, and then 
escorted us upstairs. The Jungle Room was normally cozy, but with 
a small table and two chairs, it was downright intimate. I held 
Kate's chair for her and then seated myself. The hostess handed 
us our menus, and me the wine list, then silently departed.

I'd barely begun to study the menu (despite the quality of the 
food, I rarely ate at the Jazz Club) when Julie tapped lightly on 
the door and entered. She looked at us in surprise, but quickly 
composed herself, quirking her lips in a slight grin when she 
looked at me.

"Are you serving tonight?" I asked, surprised to see her.

"Yeah. The bar was slow, so I picked up a table in the upstairs 
dining room, then they gave me your table."

She told us the specials, and I looked at the wine list.

"White or red?" I asked Kate.

"Hmm?"

I nodded at the wine list.

"White, please."

I don't know wine like I know Scotch, so I simply ordered a 
Riesling from a vineyard I recognized. While Julie was gone, 
getting the wine, Kate studied the menu. I studied Kate, studying 
the menu. She caught me looking at her, smiled, and then licked 
her lips sensuously. When I shifted in my seat, to give my 
growing erection room to expand, she smiled knowingly and 
returned her eyes to her menu.

Julie returned in a few minutes, bearing the bottle of wine and 
two glasses. After I had gone through the motions approving the 
wine, checking the cork and tasting the small amount she poured 
in my glass, Julie filled Kate's glass, and then my own.

Julie took our orders, the grilled swordfish for Kate, and a 
salmon in dill sauce for me, and then left the room, closing the 
door behind her.

"You know her?" Kate asked, indicating Julie.

"We're friendly. I come here most every Tuesday, sometimes other 
days. When the bar is slow, we'll talk. She's a nice girl."

Kate merely nodded. Then she lifted an eyebrow speculatively, and 
I held her gaze. She grinned and took a sip of wine, and I 
silently started breathing again.

"I don't know if you actually had time to read that card I gave 
you," I said. She blushed at the unspoken allusion to her mad 
dash up the stairs. "But it would have told you that I'm Ethan 
Mackenzie." I extended my hand over the table.

She took my hand in her own, her grip firm and dry. "Kate 
Kirilov."

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Kirilov. So, what is it you do for a 
living?"

"It's _Doctor_ Kirilov," she said with a smile. "And I'm a 
pediatric surgeon."

I couldn't keep the shock from my expression. "Really?"

"Are you surprised? Surprised that I'm a surgeon, or that I'm a 
woman surgeon?"

I felt my face and ears heat, and I brushed at an invisible crumb 
on the linen tablecloth. "Neither really," I said hastily. "It's 
just not what I pictured you doing."

"Oh?"

"Well, no. Not really. But... Well, there's this thing I do. I 
like people watching, and as I watch them, I like to make up 
'their story' in my head. Who they are, what they do, why they're 
doing what they're doing, etc."

"So what was my story?"

"I don't know really," I admitted. "I hadn't decided yet, I 
guess. I was probably too busy going out of my mind with desire."

It was her turn to grin and blush, and I used the pause to 
regroup and change the subject.

"My partner and I have a company that does custom software and 
internet applications."

"I gather your company is doing well?"

"Well, we survived the Dot-Bomb. Not many companies did, not in 
our line of work. We do a lot more than web stuff, though, which 
is why we're doing well. We do a lot of different things for our 
clients, and we do them well, so our business is growing."

"If your business is growing, how come you spend so much time in 
bars?"

I blushed again. "Actually, that's only this month. December is a 
slow month for most of our clients, we don't have many retailers 
as clients, so Gabriel and I try to schedule things so most of 
our teams can have the month as a vacation month. Things get 
pretty intense when we're on a deadline, so we work hard, we play 
hard, and we let our people recover before we push them hard 
again."

"I see."

"'You can eat a sheep only once, you can shear it many times,'" I 
said, reciting the quote with a grin. "Also, a lot of our 
programmers are overseas, so all I've really got to do this whole 
month is keep up with them. Not to change the subject, but... 
Kirilov? Russian?"

"Yes," she said simply. "My parents are expatriates."

I sensed something in her voice, but I couldn't tell what; almost 
a hesitation. I worked with Russians--one of our major 
programming groups was in Moscow--and I was curious. I didn't 
want to press the issue, however, so I let it drop.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Julie entered with our 
Caesar salads. I thanked her and she left quietly, once again, 
shutting the door behind her.

"I almost forgot," Kate said as she unfolded her napkin. "I'm 
supposed to be making you regret not doing things my way."

I arched an eyebrow at her.

She grinned, nodded, and began unbuttoning her blazer. Then it 
struck me! I knew what was different about her, what I'd noticed 
when she'd emerged from the rest room, but what I'd failed to 
identify. The sheer blouse under the blazer was simply gone. For 
the past fifteen minutes, I'd been admiring her tanned neck and 
upper chest.

Her eyes sparkled as she slowly unfastened each brass button, 
revealing more and more of her chest. I became instantly erect as 
she reached the last button and slowly pulled the blazer open. 
She stopped just as the soft inner curve of each breast was 
revealed, and laughed richly when she saw my expression.

"You like?" she asked in a sultry voice.

"Very much."

"Would you like to see more?"

I nodded.

"If we were at my place right now, you could touch them, kiss 
them. I'd like that very much."

I looked her in the eye and she grinned wickedly.

"But since we're doing things your way, they'll have to wait for 
later." She chuckled and dropped her hands. The blazer hung open, 
revealing a narrow expanse of tanned skin; I shifted in my seat. 
She picked up her salad fork and began eating nonchalantly. "So 
tell me," she said. "Why did it surprise you when I told you I'm 
a surgeon?"

I was shocked for a moment at her abrupt change in conversation. 
Reluctantly, I drew my eyes away from her taut stomach, and 
picked up my own salad fork. "Most of the surgeons I know are 
men, and I always got the impression that it was a big Boy's 
Club."

"Oh, it is," she said quickly. "Not so much these day as it used 
to be. There are a lot more women surgeons than when I was in 
school. But we're still very much the minority."

"Is it as competitive as I imagine it is?"

"It depends," she said. "Yes and no."

I looked at her questioningly and forked another bite of Romaine 
lettuce into my mouth, determined not to look at the gentle swell 
of her breasts.

"There's competition in and out of the hospital."

I looked at her questioningly.

"Inside the hospital, sometimes it seems like it's more about 'I 
just did this incredibly complicated surgery,' or 'I just got a 
patent on my new device.' Things like that. When I was a 
resident, it was very competitive, because surgeons are the cream 
of the crop, and most everyone wants to be one. With a limited 
number of surgical residencies, it's very competitive. Now, it's 
a different kind of competition.

"Outside the hospital, well, some surgeons are simply in it for 
the money. It _is_ a big Boy's Club sometimes--who's got the best 
trophy wife, who's got the most expensive car, house, boat, 
whatever. I'd like to think that most of us are in it because we 
love it, and we like saving lives and helping people, but that's 
not the case. A lot of surgeons are, but a lot of them like the 
lifestyle more than the work."

"I gather you're an 'I like saving lives' type of surgeon?"

She nodded. "I'd have to be!"

I was taken aback by her intensity.

"Becoming a pediatric surgeon is a _lot_ more work than just 
becoming a surgeon, and you'd have to really want it. Not only 
did I have to study pediatrics, I had to study surgery as well. 
That's not something you do if you're only interested in the 
money. I like the lifestyle as well, believe me, but I really 
like saving the life of a child, or seeing the look on the 
parents' faces when I tell them that their child is going to be 
okay."

"Yeah, that must be nice."

"It really is," she said, and took a bite of salad.

She used her hands when she talked, and her jacket strayed open, 
revealing more and more soft flesh. I shamelessly decided to ask 
her more about herself, in the hopes that the blazer would drift 
further open.

"Why did you decide to become a surgeon?" I asked.

"My parents. My mother really. She wanted me to be a doctor, but 
I wanted to work with children. I thought I wanted to be a 
teacher, but she kept pushing me to go to medical school."

She took a sip of wine and wiped the corners of her mouth with 
her napkin. Her blazer slid open a little further, revealing her 
breasts almost to the nipples. My erection swelled further at the 
sight, and I shifted into a more comfortable position.

"But when I got to medical school, I found that I really liked 
it," she continued. "When we went through our rotations, the last 
couple years of school, I discovered that I liked surgery. I was 
second in my class, so I was easily accepted into the surgical 
residency, and then after that, I had a pediatric surgery 
fellowship."

"Impressive," I said.

"Thank you," she said graciously.

She set her fork down, and without warning, grasped the lapels of 
the blazer and pulled them apart. I refused to take the bait, and 
held her gaze. She smirked, and then moved her hands to cup her 
breasts. The thumb and forefinger of each hand pinched her 
already erect nipples, rolling them and pulling gently.

"I can't wait to get your lips on my nipples." She closed her 
eyes and enjoyed the pleasure she was giving herself. I let my 
eyes drift lower, staring intently at her perfect breasts, which 
were partially hidden by her kneading fingers. "I want you to 
fuck me from behind, and I want to feel your hands on my tits, 
pulling my nipples as you plow into me." She opened her eyes 
languidly and focused on me. "Would you like that?"

I swallowed hard, restraining myself from simply lunging over the 
table. When I nodded, she grinned, and I began to regret my 
choice in pants. The jeans made my butt and legs look good, but 
were tighter than I would have liked, especially with a swollen 
cock made harder still by Kate's teasing.

She let her hands drop, and demurely picked up her fork. "But 
we'll have to have patience." She smirked at me. "This salad is 
really good," she said, changing gears abruptly. "You should try 
it." She forked a bite into her luscious, red-lipped mouth and 
her eyes sparkled playfully as she looked at me.

I started eating, but I'd barely finished my salad when there was 
a soft knock on the door. Julie entered a fraction of a second 
later, but Kate made no move to close her gaping blazer. I looked 
at her curiously and she merely smiled. Julie did a double-take 
when she went to remove Kate's salad plate and the large charger 
plate beneath it. I looked up at her when she removed my plates, 
and her wide-eyed expression almost made me chuckle. But she 
wordlessly finished clearing our plates and left quietly. Kate 
merely grinned audaciously and took a sip of wine.

Julie returned a moment later with our dinners. I watched her as 
she set Kate's swordfish on the table, and smiled to myself while 
she covertly studied Kate's nearly bared chest. When Julie set my 
plate down, she smiled tightly, but I could tell that her 
breathing had quickened, and her face was slightly flushed. When 
our plates were both on the table, Julie refilled our wine 
glasses and then asked if we needed anything else. I told her we 
were fine. She nodded and quietly left the room, making sure the 
door was securely shut behind her.

I picked up my glass and Kate's eyes met mine. She smiled, 
teasingly running her tongue over her lips, and picked up her own 
glass.

"A toast?" I asked.

She nodded.

"To doing things my way?"

She shook her head and grinned. "To doing things _my_ way. You 
don't know it yet, but you're playing right into my hands."

"I am?"

"Oh, yes. Your self-control is very good, I'll hand it to you. 
But it's not _that_ good."

"Oh, no? Should I take that as a challenge?"

She nodded mischievously. "But I'm going to win this one."

"A bit of that competitive streak coming out?"

"Perhaps. And perhaps I'm simply enjoying watching you try so 
hard to resist me. It's very sexy."

"Thank you," I said with a grin. "So, what shall we toast to?"

"To patience. 'Cause you need all the help you can get." She 
smiled broadly, flashing me a perfect expanse of white, even, 
beautiful teeth.

I laughed richly. "All right then, to patience."

We raised our glasses and touched them lightly. She looked at me 
over the rim as she sipped, and her eyes smoldered. I set my wine 
glass down and tried to unobtrusively adjust my painful erection. 
She noticed the movement and grinned at me. She set her wine 
glass down and reached under the tablecloth for a moment. When 
her hand emerged, she shifted in her seat and I felt her 
stocking-clad leg brush against my calf.

Her foot slid along my inner thigh until it contacted the ridge 
formed by my rock-hard shaft. She moistened her lips, closed her 
eyes, and began caressing my length with surprisingly dexterous 
toes. I ran my hand along her shin and gently squeezed her leg, 
tickling my fingers along the back of her knee. She shuddered and 
smiled, her eyes still closed. Even with the delicious aromas of 
our freshly arrived food, I thought I detected a whiff of her 
arousal. I smiled to myself and tickled the back of her knee 
again.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, she opened her eyes and looked at me. 
"You sure you don't want to do things my way?" she asked, her 
voice husky with desire.

"No," I answered honestly. "But after you flat-out challenged me 
a moment ago, I'm _going_ to stick to my guns."

"Hoisted by my own petard?"

I laughed lightly and nodded.

"Oh, well," she said. "Then I guess there's nothing to do but 
keep teasing you." And with that, she pulled the blazer open 
completely and tucked the loose fabric behind her.

Her breasts and trim stomach were entirely exposed, and I let my 
eyes drift lower. Her delicate foot was still softly rubbing my 
erection, and she felt it swell as my eyes devoured her bared 
beauty.

"You like?" she asked softly.

"Mmm hmm."

"Me too," she said, rubbing her foot along my hard-on.

With that, she picked up her dinner fork, her eyes twinkling with 
suppressed laughter. She began to eat, and I picked up my fork as 
well. The salmon was done perfectly, and the dill sauce was a 
delicious complement.

"May I try a bite of the salmon?" she asked.

"Sure." I expected her to reach across the narrow table with her 
own fork. When she didn't, I hesitated. She took one pointed look 
at my fork, and I got the message. I flaked off a Kate-sized 
bite, making sure to get a little of the sauce, and then slid my 
fork under the pink fish.

She opened her mouth, and I lifted the fork to her lips. As she 
closed them around the morsel, she closed her eyes. I swallowed 
hard as her lips tightened around the fork and I slowly withdrew 
it from her mouth. Her foot caressed my erection as she made a 
production out of savoring the salmon. Just as she intended, my 
eyes were riveted to her pursed, luscious, beautiful red lips. I 
think my erection grew another inch, and when she felt it throb, 
she opened her eyes and smiled impishly.

"Mmmmm," she practically purred. "Very good. I especially like 
the sauce, nice and creamy."

My dick throbbed again under the gentle pressure of her toes.

"Would you like to try some of my swordfish?" she asked.

I nodded and she fed me a bite. I don't think I made quite the 
spectacle she had, but I tried not to disappoint her. The 
swordfish was excellent, with a nice lemon-pepper tang to it. She 
smiled when she pulled her fork back and her eyes twinkled as she 
watched me swallow. I took a sip of wine and we resumed eating.

The rest of dinner was much the same. Kate teased me mercilessly, 
turning each bite into a sensuous event, all while rubbing her 
foot over my straining erection. I didn't know whether to watch 
her lovely lips or the red, diamond-hard points of her nipples. 
She could see what effect she was having on me, and never 
relented for a moment.

In truth, I had begun to regret not simply going home with her. 
She had teasing down to an art form, and I was ready to shoot off 
in my jeans, just from her foot. I could only imagine what the 
rest of her could do. But I resolutely refused to give in to her, 
no matter how much I wanted to sweep the dishes off the table and 
take her, hard and fast.

I managed to finish about half my salmon and Kate had made only a 
small dent in her swordfish by the time Julie returned. Julie 
licked her lips and shifted nervously when Kate made no move to 
cover her breasts.

I hastily looked at my watch and realized that, since our dinners 
arrived, we'd been teasing each other for the better part of an 
hour. Julie kept stealing glances at Kate's pert breasts as she 
asked if we were finished. I told her we were, and declined the 
offer of To Go boxes.

"Did you save room for dessert," Julie asked brightly, clearly 
falling back on routine.

I was just about to decline that too, and ask for the check, when 
Kate pressed her foot into my groin and forestalled my reply.

"Yes, please," she said smoothly. "We'd like a creme brule and a 
glass of Remy Martin XO."

"Certainly," Julie said. "I'll get that right out to you."

When Julie left, Kate looked at me, eyes ablaze. "I hope you like 
cognac," she said. "Because I do, and I think you'll like how I 
plan to enjoy it."

"Cognac is fine," I said, as calmly as I could. I really, 
_really_ wanted to leave. Her insistent foot had worked me into a 
near-frenzy, and I had serious doubts about my ability to last 
until we got to a bedroom.

"How's your self-control doing?" she asked teasingly.

"Fine," I growled.

"Good. So this 'patience' thing is really working out for you?"

I smiled ruefully and she giggled. She took a sip of wine and 
rubbed her toes along the length of my swollen shaft. I groaned 
softly and closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation but hoping that 
I wouldn't lose control.

Thankfully, Julie knocked softly several minutes later, and then 
entered, bearing our dessert and the cognac. When she went to set 
the dish and glass on the table, Kate held her hand up.

"I think we're going to sit on the couch and enjoy our dessert. 
Have a busboy remove the table and chairs, please." Kate said.

"Of course." Julie set the dish and balloon snifter on the end 
table next to the couch and headed out to find a busboy.

Kate smiled at me and pulled her blazer closed. I quirked an 
eyebrow at her and she grinned.

"You're the only man I want tonight. There's no sense teasing 
someone who can't have me."

"And what about Julie? You don't seem to mind teasing her."

She shook her head. "That's different. I'm not going to go home 
with a busboy, now or ever. But we might take Julie home with 
us."

"We?"

"Not tonight," she quickly amended. "But sometime. Maybe. She's 
cute."

I filed that comment away for future analysis, and looked up to 
see Julie, another server, and a busboy enter the small room. 
Holding her blazer together with one hand, Kate rose gracefully 
and walked around to my side of the table. I stood and put my 
hand on the small of her back. She smiled up at me and leaned 
against my side.

Julie and her helpers made quick work of clearing the table and 
then removing it and the two chairs. When the other server and 
the busboy were gone, Julie turned to us.

"Do you need anything else right now?" she asked.

"I think we're probably fine for the moment," I said. "Thanks."

"Check back on us in about 15 minutes, though." Kate said.

Julie nodded and shut the door as she left. I looked at Kate, but 
she merely turned and lifted her lips for a kiss. I willingly 
obliged her, relishing the feeling of her body pressed against 
me.

"Mmmmm, I like that," she said breathlessly.

"Me too. Let's forget dessert and just get out of here."

She shook her head. "We're doing things your way," she said 
teasingly. "Besides, I want to enjoy the cognac."

"I'll buy you a bottle on the way to my house. Two. Whatever you 
want."

"Patience, Ethan. Patience." Her tone was almost mocking as she 
repeated my words from earlier. Her smile took the sting out of 
it, though. "I think you'll enjoy the dessert and cognac."

I pulled her roughly to me and pressed my lips against hers 
again. She came willingly, and her tongue sparred with mine as I 
tasted her.

"Trust me," she said when we broke the kiss. Her eyes were still 
closed and her voice was shaky.

She pulled back and pushed me down on the couch. When I was 
seated, she lowered herself to my lap. Her skirt rode up as she 
sat, and I was treated to a bewitching expanse of her long, lush 
legs. She leaned forward, retrieved the creme brule, and then 
giggled at the expression on my face.

Her ass was pressed firmly against my erection, and she wiggled 
it deliciously as she cracked the caramelized shell on top of the 
dessert. She scooped out a bite of the creamy custard and held it 
up to my lips. I rested my hand on her toned thigh, and opened my 
mouth. As I savored the texture and flavor, she smiled at me.

"You like me feeding you?"

I nodded. "I'd rather you were feeding me something else."

"Oh?" She scooped another spoonful, which I accepted.

"Aren't you having any?" I asked.

She shook her head and fed me another bite. "I'm saving myself 
for creme Ethan." She wiggled her hips for emphasis and my poor, 
swollen, over-stimulated erection throbbed. She fed me another 
bite. "I'm going to take your cock out and suck gently on the 
head."

I groaned and she wiggled on my lap. She fed me another bite and 
grinned lasciviously.

"I want to slowly lower my lips over you, tasting each inch as I 
swallow it," she breathed.

I ran my hand up her leg, under her skirt, almost to her hip. She 
gasped as my fingers neared the warmth of her pussy. I could 
definitely smell her arousal. She closed her eyes as I slowly 
insinuated my fingers between her thighs and moved towards the 
damp heat of her slit. My fingers grazed the narrow strip of 
pubic hair and she gasped. With an effort of will, she composed 
herself and opened her eyes. She scraped the last of the creme 
brule out of the dish and fed it to me.

"God! I can't wait to get your fat cock inside me," she said.

"Then let's go."

"Not yet. We haven't had our cognac."

"I'll buy you all the damned cognac you want. Louis XIII even, 
but let's _go_." I was practically growling.

"Trust me," she said soothingly.

Her mischievous expression told me that she wasn't going anywhere 
until we'd at least tasted the cognac. Reluctantly, I pulled my 
hand from under her skirt, took the empty creme brule dish from 
her hands, and set it next to the snifter. I picked up the cognac 
and cradled it in my hand, adding my body warmth to the dark 
amber liquid. As I brought it towards us, the aroma overpowered 
the scent of the aroused woman on my lap. When the two mingled, 
my head swam. I held the snifter to her lips, but she shook her 
head.

"You drink it," she said, her eyes shining.

I looked at her questioningly.

"You'll see."

I sipped the heady liquor and rolled it around my tongue, letting 
the fumes rise into my sinuses. When I swallowed, Kate was 
immediately there, kissing me. Her tongue forced my lips open as 
she pressed herself against me, and I eagerly kissed her back. 
When she pulled back, she ran her tongue over her lips and 
grinned at me.

"I love drinking cognac like that," she said.

To tell the truth, I was beginning to like it too. The warmth of 
the liquor was spreading through me, and the lingering feeling of 
her lips on mine complemented it nicely.

"I want another taste," she said insistently.

I put my nose in the snifter and breathed in the aroma as I 
tilted it upward. The cognac rolled onto my tongue and I held it 
in my mouth for a moment. When Kate moved towards me, I set the 
snifter on the end table without looking. Her lips met mine 
before I swallowed and I let her suck a little of the cognac from 
my mouth.

With one hand on the small of her back, I raised the other and 
put my palm on her smooth stomach. She arched her back as I moved 
my hand upward and gently cupped her breast. The liquor began to 
burn my tongue and I was forced to swallow. Her lips were still 
crushed against mine and her tongue darted into my mouth as soon 
as she felt me swallow. I kneaded her breast, twisting her hard 
nipple, and she moaned as our tongues thrust and parried.

She pulled back only long enough to catch her breath, and then 
pressed herself against me again. I moved my hand to the other 
breast and she whimpered as I tugged on her rock-hard nipple. 
When she wiggled her ass against my tightly encased prick, I 
broke the kiss.

"If we don't get out of here right now, I'm going to do one of 
two things," I said tersely.

"Oh?"

"I'm either going to come in my jeans, or I'm going to throw you 
on the couch and fuck you right here."

"What happened to being patient?" she asked with artful 
innocence.

"Fuck patient," I snarled. "I want you." My hand snaked back 
under the pleated skirt and I dipped my fingers into the furnace 
of her pussy. She gasped as they easily slipped into her wet 
depths. "And I know you want me."

"Oh, God!" she breathed. "I've wanted you since the first time I 
saw you."

I began rubbing the top of her clit with my thumb. "Then let's 
_go_," I said urgently.

She shuddered and arched her back. "Not yet," she said, panting 
softly.

I renewed my attack on her clit and she cried out quietly. 
"_Now_," I said insistently. "Let's _go_."

With an incredible effort of will, she shook her head. She 
reached down and grasped my wrist, staying my hand. "Not... 
yet..." Her breathing was rapid, and her face and neck were 
deeply flushed.

The scent of her arousal filled the room and my cock ached as I 
inhaled her aroma.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and it quickly opened. I 
had completely forgotten about Julie, and she was halfway in the 
room before I could even look up. At the sound of her entrance, 
Kate stiffened and began to turn. With growing panic, I watched 
the tableau unfold. I opened my mouth to speak at the same time 
Julie got a good look at the two of us, nearly _in flagrante 
delicto_. Before either of us could react, Kate spoke.

"Julie." She used her surgeon voice, accustomed to giving orders 
and having them instantly obeyed. "Come in and shut the door 
behind you."

I was stunned into immobility. Kate swiveled her head to look at 
the surprised girl. Without thinking, Julie did as she was told. 
Her mouth worked soundlessly as she watched Kate stand. I watched 
raptly as Kate turned and took off her blazer. She let it fall to 
the floor and then moved towards Julie.

Julie was much shorter than Kate, and petite, compared to Kate's 
long-legged elegance. Kate, topless and clad only in her school-
girl plaid skirt and knee-high white stockings, used her body to 
press Julie against the door. She had to bend to kiss the girl, 
but Julie didn't move as Kate's lips crushed against her own. 
They shared a long, heated kiss, and I tried to find a 
comfortable angle for my straining, aching cock.

"You guard the door for me," Kate said huskily as she pulled back 
from the kiss.

Julie swallowed hard and nodded, practically mesmerized.

Kate turned to me, her face a mask of desire. She was quickly 
between my legs, dropping to her knees and tearing at my belt. In 
a fraction of a second, she had it undone and was ripping at the 
buttons of my fly. With five rapid-fire pops, my jeans were open 
and Kate was fishing in my boxers for my swollen manhood.

She extracted it roughly and wrapped her fist around the base, 
aiming me at her descending lips. In a moment, the head of my 
cock was engulfed in warm, wet, sucking, licking heaven. I looked 
at Julie, who was watching us with eyes wide as saucers, and then 
groaned as Kate took half my length in her mouth.

With a seemingly practiced gesture, Kate flipped her long brown 
hair over her shoulder, giving Julie an unobstructed view of her 
sucking lips and my rigid dick. I ran my fingers through Kate's 
hair and rested my hands atop her head. When she began bobbing up 
and down, swallowing more than half my length, I groaned and let 
my head loll back against the couch.

With all the night's teasing and taunting, I lasted no more than 
a minute. My balls were already tight against my body as I felt 
the first stirrings of a powerful orgasm. A supernova erupted 
behind my tightly clamped eyelids when I felt the first surge of 
semen blasting from the tip of my cock.

Kate worked her lips against my spasming shaft, greedily 
swallowing my seed with each powerful spurt. Through the intense, 
overwhelming pleasure, I faintly heard myself groaning. I gripped 
her head and held her down, trying to force more of my erection 
into her mouth, humping my hips in time with my spasms.

When my climax slowly began to subside, I opened my eyes and 
stared at the ceiling. The ringing in my ears faded, but the 
sensations radiating from my groin continued to pulse and pound 
at my senses. I could vaguely sense Kate still sucking at my 
slowly deflating erection, moaning with pleasure as she worked 
her lips and tongue over my shaft, taking care to avoid the 
supersensitive head.

I blinked and simply stared, slowing coming back to my senses. I 
realized that I still had a death grip on Kate's head, so I 
relaxed my fingers. When I lifted my head, the first thing I saw 
was Julie. She was leaning against the door and rubbing her small 
breasts through her shirt with one hand. The other hand was 
drifting towards her pussy when her eyes met mine. She grinned 
guiltily and immediately pulled her questing fingers back to her 
waist. I smiled at her and she blushed.

I felt Kate's lips leave my cock and I looked down at her. She 
was smiling smugly and I couldn't help but grin in reply. She 
kissed the tip of my deflated manhood and then looked at me 
seriously.

"_Now_ are you ready to do things my way?" she asked.

I nodded mutely and she delicately tucked my penis back into my 
boxers. She retrieved her discarded blazer and put it on before 
she stood. I stood as well, and buttoned my jeans. All the while, 
Julie was watching us, the flush of desire coloring her face, 
neck, and chest. I smiled at her and she grinned shyly in reply. 
Kate noticed the exchange and turned to the girl.

She walked over, blazer still gaping open deliciously, and pushed 
Julie against the door with her body. As they kissed, Julie 
responded a lot more eagerly than I thought she would have. I 
knew she must have been able to taste my semen on Kate's lips, 
and the thought thrilled me.

Kate insinuated a long leg between Julie's own and began grinding 
her hips against Julie. Then she reached up to rub Julie's small 
breasts, and they kissed for a long time.

"Thank you," Kate whispered to Julie.

Julie merely nodded and bit her lip shyly.

When Kate finally turned, she looked at me drunkenly. "Take me 
home," she said.

Julie stared at us open-mouthed, completely stunned. I grinned at 
her and she recovered enough composure to close her mouth. Kate 
began buttoning her blazer as I bent to recover her purse and 
shoes. She took them both when I handed them to her, slipping her 
shoes on without bothering to buckle them. When she reached into 
her purse, the sheer blouse, which she had stuffed in there 
earlier, threatened to escape. I quickly realized that she was 
reaching for her wallet, and held up my hand.

When I reached into my pocket, she stopped, smiled gratefully at 
me, and closed her purse. I pulled out my cash and started doing 
math in my head, adding up the cost for dinner and everything 
else. I erred on the side of a _very_ generous tip--it's not 
every server who'll guard the door while your dinner date gives 
you a blowjob--and peeled off three hundred-dollar bills.

Julie watched as I set the money on the table and then swallowed 
hard when she looked back up at me. Her breathing was quick and 
shallow, and she was still flushed with desire. I smiled at her 
and she slowly recovered enough composure to grin shyly.

"Thanks," I said simply.

She nodded in reply and looked down, her blush deepening.

Kate looked up as I spoke, and then turned to Julie. Kate stepped 
close to the younger woman. I couldn't hear the exchange, or see 
anything more than Julie's face, but I could imagine what Kate 
had said, simply by Julie's reaction. Julie flushed, blinked 
rapidly, and then nodded hesitantly. Kate kissed her again, 
softly, on the lips, and she smiled. I felt the stirrings of a 
new erection as I watched the two of them.

When Kate looked back at me with smoldering eyes, I extended my 
arm to her and she hooked hers through it. Julie opened the door 
for us and I let Kate precede me out of the room. We walked back 
towards the bar, around the corner, and then down the stairs 
towards the front door. Once downstairs, I retrieved both of our 
coats from the cloakroom and helped Kate into hers.

The hostess grinned at me conspiratorially and then winked. I 
smiled in reply and donned my own coat. I held the front door for 
Kate and then followed her out, into the bracing December air. 
Just as I turned to her to discuss the logistics of where we were 
going, and how, she opened her purse.

"Here," she said as she reached around the wadded blouse and 
retrieved her car keys. "You drive."

It's not that I minded leaving the Rover in the Jazz Club parking 
lot; I knew it would be safe. Even though there was a tremendous 
chemistry between Kate and me, I didn't like the idea of being 
stranded at a new woman's house. What if things, for some 
inexplicable reason, didn't work out? The look Kate gave me as 
she pressed her luscious body against me, however, quickly eroded 
my doubt. I know I was thinking with the little head, but he 
hadn't gotten me into _too_ much trouble lately. So I took the 
proffered keys and let her lead me to her car.

She was parked on the side of the restaurant, near the front, and 
I wondered how I'd missed seeing her car on my race to reach the 
front door. As we approached it, I fumbled with the key fob and 
eventually found the button to unlock the car. I pushed it once, 
then twice, and was rewarded with the satisfying _thunk_ of all 
the doors unlocking. I held the door for Kate and then shut it 
when she levered her legs into the car, smiling at me.

When I opened the driver's side door, I looked for the seat 
controls before getting in. While Kate was tall, she wasn't close 
to my 6'3", and I didn't want to shoe-horn myself into the car 
only to have to fumble for the controls to give myself some leg 
room. I spotted them quickly and began moving the seat down and 
back. When it reached the end of its travel, I slid into the car. 
A few quick adjustments for comfort, and I put the keys in the 
ignition and shut the door.

Before I put on my seatbelt, I leaned over and kissed Kate. She 
twined one hand in my hair and pulled me close, darting her 
tongue against my own. When we broke the kiss, she captured my 
lower lip with her teeth and gently pulled. With a wicked smile, 
she released me, and I reluctantly pulled back.

"More later," she said softly, her eyes full of promises.

As I buckled my seatbelt, she gave me directions.

"Take Ebenezer until it dead-ends at Northshore. Turn right at 
the light and drive about six miles. I live in Northshore 
Terrace." She gave the directions with crisp efficiency, and I 
smiled to myself at the change in her manner when she used her 
surgeon voice. "You know the subdivision?"

I nodded. I knew where it was. It was a gated, upscale community, 
with moderately large, zero-lot-line houses that yuppie-type 
professionals favored. I'd looked at the subdivision when I was 
looking for a new house a year before, but had decided that I 
wanted a yard and a bit more space. Most of the houses in 
Northshore Terrace _did_ have great views of the lake, though, 
and there was a private dock for residents. The neighborhood was 
nice, but it had more cachet than actual appeal, as far as I was 
concerned. I kept my thoughts to myself, however, as I pulled out 
of the parking lot and headed south on Ebenezer.

We were barely out of the parking lot when Kate shifted in her 
seat, unbuckled her seatbelt, and began to remove her coat.

"Are you hot?" I asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of my 
voice. The Lexus had a nice heater, but it was still very cold in 
the car.

"No. You just drive," she said mysteriously.

So I drove. And I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she 
shed her coat, her blazer, and finally, her skirt. She slipped 
out of her shoes, and clad only in her white knee-socks, she 
climbed onto her seat and leaned towards me. When she nipped my 
ear and began to softly kiss my neck, I nearly swerved off the 
road. While I drove with my left hand, I put my right arm around 
her and tried to gently pull her off me. I wanted to survive to 
reach her house.

Kate completely ignored my gentle pressure and kissed around my 
neck and then up the line of my jaw. I sucked in my breath and 
tried to watch the road, over her head. My hand still on the 
small of her back--her warm, long, beautiful back--I concentrated 
on staying in the proper lane. She kissed down my neck and I felt 
my penis stiffen as her hand reached lower and rested on the lump 
in my jeans.

For the third time that night, she stripped open my belt and 
tugged at my jeans. The buttons popped when she pulled my fly 
open, and she stopped kissing my neck. I thought she would relent 
and let me concentrate on driving, but she had other ideas.

"Mmmmm," she breathed as she reached into my jeans. "The first 
time was good, but it was too fast." She extracted my rapidly 
hardening member and stroked it gently. "I want to enjoy it this 
time."

With that, she lowered her head to my groin and engulfed my 
erection. I ran my hand up her spine and rested it on top of her 
head, luxuriating in the feelings of her silky hair under my 
fingers and her supple lips on my cock. I wanted to pay attention 
to the gentle suction she was applying to my member, but 
reluctantly decided that the road was where my attention needed 
to be.

When we approached the light at Ebenezer and Northshore, I slowed 
down. Finally, the light turned yellow and I pulled to a stop. I 
closed my eyes and focused on Kate, and her mouth. She was 
bobbing up and down slowly, running her lips and tongue over my 
exposed length, bathing my cock with warmth and wetness. I 
groaned softly as she sucked just the glans into her mouth and 
flicked her tongue against the slit.

I've had some incredible blowjobs in my life, but Kate certainly 
knew what she was doing, and would easily rank in the top two or 
three. If she kept going, I knew she would make me come, and that 
was the last thing that I wanted. I think she sensed that as 
well, and she slowed her pace to one that would keep me aroused, 
but not push me over the edge. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and 
checked for oncoming traffic. When I saw none, I turned right, 
onto Northshore.

The two-lane road wound along the North shore of the lake, hence 
its name, and I had to concentrate on my driving. Kate's lips and 
tongue were never far from the front of my brain, however, and I 
drove as fast as I could. It wasn't fast enough, as far as I was 
concerned, but it was the best I could do.

On the final straightaway before her subdivision, I relaxed and 
let my mind pay attention to the sensations in my groin. Kate had 
taken me as far into her throat as my jeans and the awkward 
position would allow, and I quickly lost myself in the luxurious 
feeling as she wrapped her lips around my shaft and slowly lifted 
her head. The lights of oncoming traffic snapped me out of my 
dangerous reverie, however, and I swerved back into the right 
lane, firmly resolving to pay attention to the road until we got 
to her house.

Northshore Terrace loomed ahead and I slowed to turn into the 
subdivision. Kate felt the motion of the car and released my cock 
from her mouth with a wet plop. She looked up, captured my 
attention with her eyes, and then pointed to the console above 
the rear-view mirror, on the roof of the car.

"The first button is the gate, the middle button is the garage 
door. Take the second street on the right, drive around to the 
first cul-de-sac, and I'm the house at the end. Number 108,"

Without waiting for my reply, she wrapped her lips around my 
straining erection and resumed sucking me. I pulled up to the 
gate and slowed to a stop. The guard house was empty, but the 
lights were on, and I silently thanked providence that I wouldn't 
have to pass the scrutiny of the security guard. I pressed the 
first button, and the gate started moving aside. When it was open 
far enough to accommodate the Lexus, I drove through, my hand 
once again resting comfortably on the back of Kate's slowly 
bobbing head.

I followed her directions and pulled into the driveway of her 
house a few minutes later. I pressed the middle button on the 
overhead console, and the garage door began to open, spilling 
light onto the driveway. When the door retracted fully, I was 
surprised to see a Jeep Cherokee occupying the left bay. As I 
slowly pulled into the garage, I wondered if Kate had a roommate 
(the leggy blonde?).

I stopped the car and had to reach around Kate to put it into 
Park. I cupped her firm breast for a moment, delighting at the 
feeling of her hard nipple as it pressed into my palm. 
Reluctantly, I pulled my hand away and pushed the button that 
controlled the garage door. The door started closing and I shut 
off the car.

Kate kept her lip-lock on my erection, obviously enjoying 
herself, and I leaned back into the comfortable leather seat and 
finally got to concentrate on the pleasurable sensations, without 
the fear of losing my life. The car pinged as it cooled, but the 
sound quickly faded into the background as she began running her 
lips along my length in earnest.

As much as I enjoyed the sensation, I knew I had to stop her. 
While I could still come several times over the course of the 
night, I wasn't a teenager any longer, and I didn't want to come 
in her mouth again so soon (much as I enjoyed the thought). With 
gentle pressure from my left hand, I pulled her off my swollen 
manhood.

She lifted her head and I brought my lips down on hers, forcing 
them open, tasting myself as she sucked on my tongue. I let my 
right hand roam over her chest, tweaking her nipples and lightly 
cupping her left breast. She moaned into my mouth and I let my 
hand drift lower.

When she felt my fingers sliding over her slippery channel, Kate 
broke the kiss. She was breathing hard and her eyes were 
unfocused. I chuckled silently at the sight. Strong, tanned 
fingers wrapped around my wrist and stopped my hand before I 
could do more than rub the exposed bud of her clit.

"Inside," she said insistently.

I nodded, helped her sit up, and unbuckled my seatbelt. Kate 
gathered her purse and her coat, leaving the rest of her clothing 
where she'd tossed it, in the back seat. I opened my door and 
paused for a moment to admire her lithe figure as the car's 
overhead light came on. She simply opened her door and got out, 
so I quickly followed suit.

I came around the front of the car, my erection leading the way, 
just as she reached the door into the house. She turned on the 
doorstep and I wrapped my arms around her. Her lips searched for 
mine and found them in the dark. The step was just high enough 
that her breasts brushed against the top of my chest, her 
diamond-hard nipples against the exposed flesh of my neck.

I kissed her hard, running my tongue over her lips, her teeth, 
and against her own searching tongue. I ran my hands down her 
back and cupped her perfectly toned ass cheeks, pulling her to 
me. Incredibly, our kiss heated further as she ground her pelvis 
against my stomach. Without breaking our connection, she dropped 
her purse and coat, ran her hands over my shoulders, and started 
to push my coat off. She got it down over my arms, and when I 
realized what she was trying to do, I grudgingly relinquished my 
hold on her ass to let the coat slip down over my hands.

Our lips still locked together, I returned my hands to her 
delectable ass and pulled her against me. Kate, however, had 
other ideas. She ran her hands down my back and began pulling at 
my sweater, lifting and scrunching it up my torso. When she had 
it bunched under my armpits, she broke the kiss and looked at me 
expectantly. I lifted my arms and let her pull the woolen sweater 
over my head, and then off me completely.

In the cool air of the garage, I felt my nipples harden. I pulled 
her to me again and she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her body 
was incredibly warm and inviting against my own. She brought her 
lips down on mine again, and I reached behind her to grope for 
the doorknob. When I found it and turned, we nearly tumbled into 
the house. I lifted her easily and pushed her inside. Her nipples 
dragged over my chest as I stepped up and followed her. I broke 
the kiss and quickly surveyed our surroundings.

We were in the laundry room, with a doorway to the right, leading 
to the kitchen. I spotted her breakfast table, with only a little 
clutter on it, and began pushing her towards it as my lips sought 
hers. I was just about to kick the door to the garage shut with 
my foot when she broke the kiss and pulled back, breathless.

"Oh, Ethan," she breathed as I began kissing down the line of her 
neck and pushing her back at the same time.

My cock was straining, and bouncing uncomfortably where it was 
constricted by my boxers and the fly of my jeans. Kate's ass 
backed against the breakfast table and I forced myself away from 
her throat long enough to clear the table with one sweep of my 
arm. The clatter of things hitting the floor didn't deter me for 
a moment. I leaned forward, my cock pressing against the slippery 
junction of her legs, and she moaned. I was just reaching for my 
pocket, and the condoms I had shoved there before I'd left home, 
when she put both strong hands on my chest and pushed me back.

I stood, mildly confused, and watched her slide off the table and 
run to the door to the garage. She practically lunged through it 
and came back a moment later with her purse. She reached into the 
purse, quickly pulled out the wad of her blouse, and then 
rummaged through the remaining contents. When she withdrew her 
hand, containing a foil packet, she tossed the purse aside and 
looked at me. Her expression was so full of lust that my cock 
swelled and jerked in anticipation.

I pulled my hand from my pocket, my own condom easily forgotten, 
as Kate ripped open the packet and fell to her knees before me. 
Strong hands tugged at the waistband of my jeans and boxers, 
pulling them down to my knees in one motion. I watched, 
fascinated, as she slipped the condom in her mouth and then 
pressed her lips over the tip of my slowly bobbing dick.

With an act of sheer willpower, I kept myself from coming as she 
unrolled the condom over my length, using only her lips, tongue, 
and teeth. She took me entirely into her mouth, unrolling the 
condom completely and sucking gently on my girth. I groaned as 
she slowly began to withdraw, dragging her lips over my shaft.

"Mmmmm," she said softly, kissing the tip of my cock. 
"Strawberry."

I lifted her and brought my lips down on hers. She came into my 
arms willingly and I did indeed taste the strawberry of the 
condom. I turned her and once again pressed her against the edge 
of the table. During the car ride from the Jazz Club, she had 
worked me into a near frenzy, and I was afraid that if I didn't 
sink my cock into her soon, I was going to lose control 
completely.

I ran my hands down her torso, feeling the ripple and play of her 
muscles as I lifted her onto the table. She broke the kiss and 
hissed as her hot skin came into contact with the cold wood of 
the table. There was nothing I could do about it though, so I 
simply pushed my hips between her thighs, spreading her legs as I 
did.

I pushed her back onto the table and she gasped again when more 
of her skin made contact with the wood. With my right hand, I 
reached down and grasped the base of my dick. I looked up at Kate 
and was rewarded with her smoldering, lust-filled expression.

"Oh, God. Put it in me," she hissed.

I ran the latex-encased glans over her slick channel. Her outer 
lips were engorged and spread easily when I pressed against them 
with my erection. I lifted my cock and brushed it against her 
exposed clit, causing her to shudder. As I pushed the head 
between her labia, Kate moaned again and her belly rippled.

I sank into her, luxuriating in the feeling, and then suddenly 
encountered a lot more resistance than I'd expected. I found 
myself pushing hard. Kate bit her lip, grinned at me, and then 
relaxed her muscles. With the resistance gone, I slipped inside 
her easily, and my hips slammed against her with the force of my 
entry. Her pussy was naturally tight, but I quickly discovered 
that she had excellent muscle control.

I put my hands on her hips and braced her as I pulled back. 
Another powerful lunge and I was inside her again; she moaned in 
delight. With a lusty, teasing grin, she locked her ankles behind 
my hips, holding me inside her, and began rhythmically 
contracting her PC muscle. The effect was incredible, and I 
almost passed out from the pleasure.

I'd been with women who had good muscular control, but Kate was 
something else entirely. It felt like she was milking my cock, 
and with her legs holding me in place, there was little I could 
do besides close my eyes and groan.

I finally regained a little control, although it was one of the 
most difficult things I've ever had to do, and moved my hands 
from her hips. I trailed my right hand over her tight stomach and 
let my thumb play over her clit. She hissed at the touch, and her 
pussy stopped clenching. Her eyes popped open and her hand shot 
out, grabbing my wrist and pulling my thumb away from the 
sensitive little pearl.

"It's better this way," she said, her voice husky with desire. 
"Trust me."

I trusted her, and contented myself with running my hands lightly 
up and down her flanks as she resumed the maddening clenching in 
her pussy. I wanted to hold out longer than I did, but all the 
night's teasing and increasing passion finally overwhelmed me. 
The clenching and releasing of her pussy seemed to forcefully rip 
my orgasm from my body, and I came harder than I could ever 
remember.

I clamped my eyes shut and gritted my teeth as pleasure burst 
from my groin and quickly battered my senses, overwhelming me. 
Spurt after spurt erupted from deep within me, and I felt like I 
was pouring myself into her. Every muscle in my body was suddenly 
taut and tingling as my entire being shrank to one brilliant 
mote, centered on my pumping, spasming penis. My climax cascaded 
over me and through me, drowning me in ecstasy so powerful that 
the world went red, then grey, and finally, black.

When I opened my eyes, I was panting, and I realized that I must 
have passed out for a few seconds. At least, I _hoped_ it was 
only for a few seconds. Kate was panting and grinning at me, and 
I quickly decided that I'd been out for only a moment. My whole 
body was tingling, as if I'd grabbed a live wire and held onto it 
for too long. With a silent chuckle, I realized that Kate _was_ a 
live wire. I wasn't going to let her go any time soon, though.

She struggled to sit up, but I put my hand on her chest, between 
her firm, smooth breasts, and held her in place. She looked at 
me, her eyes full of insistent questions, and I slid my hand over 
her trim belly.

"My turn," I said with an impish grin.

I tripped my thumb against her clit and her questions died 
unasked. Her eyes rolled back into her head as I gently stroked 
the exposed glans of her clit. My dick was still very hard, and 
split her open deliciously. The _last_ thing I wanted to do was 
to remove it from within her, but I did. She moaned as the ridge 
of my crown slid along her tight channel, but I moved my thumb 
against her clit to take her mind off the loss. She moaned again 
when I dropped to my knees between her spread thighs.

She knew what I was doing, and so did I, but that didn't mean I 
was going to be quick about it. Once my insistent, overpowering 
urge to come had been sated, twice, I was ready to take my time 
with her, and work _her_ into the frenzied state in which I'd 
dwelt most of the evening. I think she would have panicked if 
she'd been able to see my face, and I chuckled silently to 
myself. My jeans and boxers had tangled around my ankles, and the 
condom clung to my slowly shrinking erection, but I ignored the 
superfluous sensations as I knelt between Kate's spread thighs 
and concentrated on her.

I'd been fantasizing about her pussy since I'd first seen her, 
and it. All I wanted to do was to dive in and wallow in the 
delicate folds of her womanhood, to inhale her, to swallow her. I 
resisted the urge, knowing that when I finally did, it would be 
that much more powerful for both of us.

So I lifted her right leg--the long leg of my fantasies, and 
lately, of my reality--and gently rolled the knee-sock towards 
her feet. I pulled it off completely, and she shivered as the 
cool air wafted over her skin. Her toenails were well manicured 
but unpainted, and I lifted her dainty foot to my mouth and 
tenderly kissed the instep arch. The skin was soft and warm, and 
she shuddered at the lightness of my touch as I trailed my lips 
up over her ankle and then over the swell of her calf.

I smiled to myself at her reaction and then switched to her left 
leg, repeating the process of removing her knee-sock. Instead of 
kissing her foot, as I'm sure she expected, I lifted her leg and 
kissed the soft spot behind her knee, barely breathing as I 
brushed my lips against the sensitive flesh. She shuddered again 
and I began planting soft, butterfly-light kisses along her inner 
thigh.

I continued around her thighs, skipping her slick and waiting 
pussy entirely, moving down the soft flesh of her right thigh 
towards the knee. Her ass was barely on the table, and I paused a 
moment to watch her contracting her glutes, clenching and 
releasing, straining to get me to touch her pussy. I smiled 
wickedly and put my hands on her body, near her ass. I pulled my 
hands towards me, delicately running my fingernails over the 
backs of her thighs, causing her to hiss with pleasure.

When I reached the backs of her knees, I rubbed gently, with 
enough pressure--just enough pressure--not to tickle her. I 
watched, fascinated, as goose bumps raised on her thighs and she 
began to tremble with anticipation. I moved forward slightly and 
settled her legs over my shoulders, my hot skin warming her own. 
It hadn't been too long since I'd shaved, earlier in the evening, 
and I ran my smooth cheek along the sensitive skin of her inner 
thigh, kissing and breathing hotly as I moved towards her 
clenching pussy.

I stopped short of my goal and kissed the crease where her leg 
joined her body, giving it a light lick as I moved to her other 
thigh, breathing on her pussy as I passed, careful not to touch 
it just yet. I repeated the kiss, and then the lick, on her left 
leg. As I ran my cheek down her inner thigh, I brought my hands 
up to grip her hips.

When I ran my fingernails down the outside of her thighs, she 
cried out and humped her pussy into the air, begging me with her 
body to touch her, to lick her. I smiled again, and kissed the 
inside of her left knee, feeling the goose bumps against my lips, 
delighting in the trembling that I could feel in her muscles. I 
ran my hands back towards her pussy, on the tops of her thighs, 
my fingertips playing almost imperceptibly over the strong 
muscles of her legs, squeezing gently and teasing her.

My hands encountered the points of her hips and I felt her belly 
ripple as I moved my fingers together, toward her mons. She 
humped up at me again as she felt my breath, hot and moist, on 
her pussy. I pulled back and blew gently, cooling her flesh and 
causing more goose bumps to form.

Finally, I moved forward and inhaled the musk of her arousal. I'd 
only gotten whiffs of it earlier, and they were enough to make my 
head swim. Now, less than an inch from the source of the aroma, I 
was intoxicated by her scent: tangy, tart, musky, sweet, 
inviting, alluring, and highly addictive. Her hips quivered as I 
leaned in and kissed her smooth, engorged labia.

Her outer labia were a deep red with her arousal, and her inner 
labia were plump and distended, flaring open and welcoming me. I 
snaked my tongue out and ran the tip of it up her slit, tasting 
her (and a faint note of strawberry from the condom). She 
writhed, trying to get me to press harder, but I held her hips 
against the table with my hands, strong and sure.

I pressed my lips against her pussy, the strip of hair tickling 
my nose, and thrust my tongue within her, causing her to cry out 
in ecstasy. My upper lip brushed against her engorged clit and 
she cried out again, bucking her hips and attempting to press the 
little pearl against me. I pulled back and she moaned in lustful 
frustration.

Her hands moved over mine and she ran her fingers through my 
hair, gripping me gently and pulling me towards her sex. I 
resisted, and she pulled harder. My hair is fairly short, just 
long enough for her to grip, but not long enough for her to get 
any real leverage. Besides, my neck was far stronger than her 
arms. She whimpered when I didn't immediately bury myself, and my 
tongue, in her pussy.

I leaned forward again and licked her slit, teasing her clit as I 
flipped the tip of my tongue against its sensitive underside. She 
gasped, cried out wordlessly, and tried to pull me forward again 
with her hands on my head. Instead, I teased her some more, 
moving forward, but kissing to either side of her smooth pussy. 
She could feel the heat of my cheeks against her nether lips, 
feel me moving and kissing and licking everywhere but where she 
wanted, and it was driving her crazy.

She tried to control my movements with her hands on my head, but 
I was simply too strong for her, and she finally gave up trying. 
As soon as her hands relaxed, and simply rested on my head, still 
entwined in my hair, I pressed my lips against her pussy, rubbing 
in small circles as my tongue delved into her steamy depths. She 
gasped again and tried to buck her hips against me. I easily held 
her down with my hands, but kept my face pressed into her pussy.

When I pulled back, I tightened my lips around the folds of her 
inner lips and sucked them into my mouth. The hood pulled against 
her clit and she cried out in joy at the first real, serious 
stimulation I'd given her clit since I'd knelt between her legs.

"Are you ready to do things my way, Kate?" I asked, my voice 
gravely from disuse.

"Oh, God! Yessssss." Her stomach undulated and the trembling in 
her hips and legs became continuous. "Please! Please!"

"Please what, Kate?"

"Oh, God, Ethan. Please. You know what I want. You know what I 
need."

"Say it, Kate. Ask me."

She whimpered and thrust her hips at me. When I pulled my face 
back, and held her down, she whimpered again. Finally, she 
relented. "Please. I need it so bad. Lick me. Please. Suck me. 
Eat me. Make me c... Ungh!"

I thrust my face forward and crushed my lips against her pussy, 
forming an "O" over her clit. I circled it with my tongue and 
then sucked gently, forcing the skin of the hood against the base 
and causing her to groan. My nose buried in the narrow strip of 
hair at the top of her slit, I gently shook my head side-to-side, 
rubbing the sides of her clit with my lips and tongue.

She shuddered in ecstasy and gripped my hair tightly, holding me 
in place. There was no place else I wanted to be, however, so I 
let her hold me against her. I alternated between sucking the 
folds of her inner lips and circling her clit with my tongue. She 
cried out every time my tongue brushed against her sensitive 
glans.

I started paying attention to her reactions, and quickly learned 
that she went crazy when I sucked her clit into my mouth and 
pressed my upper lip into its base. I would waggle my head side-
to-side and then release her clit. Her pussy was practically 
dripping over my face, and I could feel her slippery lubrication 
coating my cheeks and chin. I smiled to myself and began to drag 
my tongue along her slit, from bottom to top, rubbing her labia 
with my cheeks and flicking her clit at the top of each stroke.

I ran my left hand up her belly to her ribs, and then gently 
cupped her right breast, rolling the rock-hard nipple between my 
thumb and forefinger. I moved my right hand between her legs and 
slowly insinuated two fingers into her pussy. She gasped as she 
felt me spread her open and I returned my lips to her clit.

Once I had two fingers buried to the knuckle, I crooked them up 
and felt for her pubic bone. I stopped moving my tongue on her 
clit and concentrated on her reactions as I lifted the tips of my 
fingers up and felt for her G-spot. I pressed my fingers against 
the top of her vagina and moved in small, slow circles.

She hissed and bucked her hips against me, lifting off the table 
and crushing herself against my face. I smiled inwardly and began 
rocking my fingers back and forth, caressing the bundle of 
nerves. Her hips slowly sank back to the table, so I switched 
back to the small circles. When I did, her hips shot up again and 
she battered my face with her pubis. I stopped moving my fingers 
and rode out her spasms as she slowly calmed down.

Every woman I've been with has been different, and it had always 
taken some experimentation to figure out what they liked. The 
time was well spent, and the rewards were _definitely_ worth it, 
but I decided that I'd teased Kate long enough. I could take my 
time, later, and figure out what really drove her crazy. For the 
moment, I concentrated on her clit and moved my fingers over the 
gentle ridges in her vaginal walls.

Her hips started trembling again and she gripped my head 
fiercely. I circled her clit with my tongue, and she began to 
hump against me. When I sawed my fingers back and forth in her 
gripping pussy, she cried out sharply and clamped her thighs to 
either side of my head.

I alternated sucking her clit and circling it with my tongue, 
gradually switching more to the sucking pressure that I knew she 
liked. Her pussy grasped my fingers as I thrust them into her, 
and I sped my pace on her clit. Her moans turned into a low 
shriek, and she dug her fingers into my scalp, pressing me 
against her mons. I felt the beginnings of her climax, and 
started moving my head side-to-side, exerting pressure on the 
base of her clit while flicking it with the tip of my tongue.

When I felt her clit retract, I pressed against the base of it 
and started vibrating my lips against her. Her pussy clenched my 
fingers and her legs gripped me tightly as her back arched. I 
felt the first rush of moisture in her pussy, and I pressed my 
fingers up, with gentle, constant, firm pressure, and started 
circling the nerves of her G-spot.

When I did, she exploded. Her climax rocked her body--her well 
toned, firm body--and she shrieked loud enough that I was 
momentarily glad that my ears were protected by the vise of her 
thighs. I pressed harder on the base of her clit and moved my 
tongue over the hood while I moved my fingers in inexorable 
circles behind her pubic bone, tripping over the nerves there.

Her hips hammered my face, and I could feel her moisture running 
down the back of my hand and coating my face, filling my senses 
with her taste, her smell, her texture. I rode her as the throes 
of her orgasm overwhelmed her, all the while keeping the pressure 
on with my fingers, lips, and tongue.

When I felt her climax begin to subside, I renewed my attack on 
her clit and pushed her up, up, up. Her powerful thighs gripped 
my head and her hands held me in place, but I wasn't going 
anywhere. Her second orgasm peaked with a rush of moisture and 
another series of bucking, humping thrusts from her hips.

With just my upper lip, I pressed against the base of her clit 
and continued the slow circling of my fingertips on her G-spot. 
Her pussy clutched at my invading fingers and I could feel the 
spasms of another orgasm building with her belly. I rotated her 
nipple between my left thumb and forefinger and began to lick up 
the length of her slit, flicking my tongue against the buried bud 
of her clit.

I pressed the pads of my fingers into the top of her vagina and 
stroked her G-spot, sending her over the edge once more. Kate 
shrieked, her entire body vibrating with pleasure. I took her 
through two more orgasms and an entire series of smaller ones 
before she finally pushed me away and clamped her legs shut.

I kissed her knees, her feet still resting on my shoulders, and 
finally looked up her body. She was panting, her chest rising and 
falling, drawing great drafts of air deep into her lungs. Her 
belly still quivered and her hands, resting lightly on her 
heaving chest, trembled.

I stood and almost immediately fell over as my feet tangled in my 
jeans. I fell forward heavily, catching myself on the table with 
my hands braced to either side of Kate. I was suddenly glad she 
had her eyes closed. I would have made quite a sight: the man 
who'd just given her an amazing series of orgasms, falling on his 
face immediately afterward. I chuckled ruefully to myself and 
kicked off first my shoes, and then my bunched jeans and boxers.

My cock was once again hard as a rock, still encased in the used 
condom. I reached down, pulled the strawberry-flavored latex from 
my penis, and deftly tied a knot in the end, to hold my spent 
come within the tip. I looked around quickly, spied the kitchen 
sink, and did my best underhanded toss towards it. It's a good 
thing I'm good with a computer; I missed the sink by a good five 
feet. I laughed quietly to myself, made a mental note to take 
care of the condom later, and turned back to Kate.

Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing had begun to return 
to normal. I stepped on the toes of my socks, one at a time, and 
pulled my feet from them (there's nothing that looks sillier than 
a naked man clad only in socks, dark _or_ light). Once I was as 
naked as Kate, I parted her legs with my hips and stepped 
forward.

She looked up as I moved towards her and her expression told me 
that she was completely sated. Her eyes smoldered as her hands 
encountered my erection, however, and I revised my opinion of her 
satiation. I reached forward with my right hand and lifted her 
easily with my fingers behind her neck.

Her hands still on my erection, she came willingly, and crushed 
her lips against my own. I returned the kiss with rising ardor, 
clutching her to me and pressing her nipples against my chest. I 
backed up and began casting about, looking for my jeans, and the 
condoms they contained.

"Not yet," Kate said gently, sensing my desire. "I'm still too 
sensitive."

I nodded.

"Let me suck you for awhile. Okay?"

I nodded again and she leaned to the right. I kept my hand on the 
back of her neck, but stepped back so she could pivot her legs 
onto the table. She lay on her back, along the edge of the table, 
with her head turned to the right. I stepped to my left, my 
bobbing erection leading the way, and watched as she captured the 
tip of my penis with her lips.

Her beautiful dark hair splayed out over the light wood of the 
table and she looked radiant. I simply watched her as she sucked 
my cock into her mouth, caressing the ridges and veins with 
strong, pliant lips. I began to gently rock my hips back and 
forth, thrusting into her mouth, holding her in place with my 
hand at the back of her head. She closed her eyes and breathed 
through her nose. We stayed like that for a long, languid, 
luxurious time. Never once did she come close to bringing me to 
orgasm. By unspoken agreement, we both wanted me to last as long 
as possible when I eventually buried myself in her pussy.

Finally, she pulled back, her lips wet and shiny with her saliva 
and my pre-come. Her eyes were afire with fresh lust as she sat 
up and kissed me deeply. I could taste myself on her lips, and no 
matter how much I might have wanted to come in her mouth, I knew 
that her pussy would be much more enjoyable, for both of us.

Kate continued to stroke my erection as I looked for my jeans. 
She saw me looking around and nodded towards the door to the 
laundry room.

"It's over there," she said.

I followed her eyes and spotted her purse. I quickly realized 
that she'd mistaken the object of my search.

"Why don't you get it for me?" she asked softly, sensuously.

I stepped away from her, reluctantly, and picked up her purse. "I 
was actually looking for my jeans," I said sheepishly as I 
returned to her. I spotted them where I'd kicked them, under the 
table, and bent to retrieve them as well.

When I stood up, holding both her purse and my jeans, she arched 
her eyebrows.

"Oh?" she asked archly, clearly teasing me.

I nodded and reached into my pocket, feeling for the foil packets 
I'd stuffed there earlier. When my hand emerged, holding the pair 
of condoms, Kate smirked. She reached into her purse and withdrew 
a string of three condoms. With the one we'd already used, that 
made four. She was, to put it mildly, loaded for bear.

"Four?" I asked, as calmly as I could.

"I knew you'd be... ahem... up to the task."

"Oh?"

She nodded insouciantly and smirked. "But I'm glad you brought 
more."

I looked at her with a strangled expression and she giggled.

"But we can only use one at a time," she said mischievously.

She tore one of her foil packets loose, opened it, and removed 
the strawberry-flavored condom. She grasped my member and simply 
rolled the condom onto me, smiling wickedly the whole time. I 
stepped between her legs and kissed her. When I moved forward, 
she gripped my shaft almost painfully.

"Go slowly. I'm still _very_ sensitive. Besides," she said with a 
lustful grin, "I want this to last a long, long time."

I nodded and felt her position my erection at the opening of her 
pussy. I pushed forward slowly and she gasped as the head parted 
her labia. When my penis was properly nestled between her lips, 
she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. I eased 
my hips forward and slid into her. She shuddered and bit my 
shoulder, but moaned for me to continue.

My cock isn't much longer than average, but it is pretty thick, 
and she trembled as it spread her open. When I finally filled her 
completely, she sighed and wrapped her legs around my hips.

Her body quivered and her breathing came in shallow, staccato 
bursts through her nose. She clutched me tightly and I felt her 
pussy spasming around my girth.

"Oh, God," she breathed. "You feel _so_ good inside me."

She was still breathing in short, quavering bursts, and holding 
me motionless with her arms and legs. I clenched my own PC 
muscle, to show her that she wasn't the only one with good 
control, and my cock swelled within her. She gasped and whimpered 
into my ear, her nails digging into my shoulders deliciously. I 
clenched again and she shuddered against me.

"Take me to bed," she said weakly.

"Where?"

"Upstairs."

I wrapped my arms around her and held her by the ass, lifting her 
easily. I turned away from the laundry room and headed into what 
appeared to be the living room. I wandered towards where the 
front door should be, and soon found the stairs. With each step, 
her body jostled slightly, and my cock throbbed within her. Once 
on the second floor, I easily spotted the master bedroom at the 
back of the house. I spared little attention for the decor, 
instead focusing on the king-sized bed that dominated one corner 
of the large room.

Without setting her down, I eased onto the bed on my knees and 
moved towards the headboard. When I reached the center of the 
bed, I gently set her down. She maintained her tight grip on my 
neck, and pulled me down after her as she lay back. I kissed her 
deeply when we settled, and she arched her back against me. Her 
legs were still locked behind my back and her nipples were hard 
points poking into my chest, but I was more than content to stay 
where I was.

When we broke the kiss, she smiled at me drunkenly. I smiled in 
return and began kissing the line of her jaw, working towards her 
delicate ear. She arched her back again and gasped when I brushed 
my lips against her earlobe and then kissed the hollow of her 
neck.

I began thrusting into her slowly and she loosened her legs to 
let me move. I held myself off her with my elbows and her 
breathing grew shallow and trembling as I moved inside her. She 
nibbled along the muscle of my shoulder, whimpering and gasping 
as my erection spread her open and then withdrew. I kept my pace 
deliberately slow, not wanting to over-stimulate her.

Unlike our first coupling, this one was long and slow and tender. 
Kate looked into my eyes as I slowly pumped my hips and built 
both of us towards our climaxes. When her pussy started grasping 
and clutching at my cock, I slowed down and buried myself within 
her. She pressed her face against my shoulder and quivered with 
pent-up desire. I slowly withdrew from her molten pussy and then 
sank back into her. She moaned as the crown of my cock raked 
across the sensitive folds of her labia.

We fucked like that for a long time. The condom desensitized me a 
little, but I'd already come twice, and that prolonged things for 
me more than anything else. I took my time, enjoying her body, 
and her reactions. But I also took care to pay close attention to 
her, to make sure she was enjoying herself, and that I wasn't 
hurting her. She pulled me close and buried her face against my 
neck.

"I want to come with you," she whispered.

I nodded against her and she relaxed her grip on my neck.

I pumped into her slowly, feeling her reactions. I wanted to slam 
into her, to bury myself in her depths and release the 
floodgates. But I didn't. Instead, I watched the mounting flush 
on her neck and chest, felt her pussy spasm around my shaft as 
she neared her orgasm. When she locked her legs around my back 
and began thrusting against me, I increased my pace and let some 
of my control slip.

Kate looked into my eyes and I felt her hips pump up into mine. 
In a moment, her pussy gripped me firmly and she started to 
contract around me. I tried to hold back as long as I could, but 
I was too far gone. I closed my eyes and saw stars, arching my 
back and burying my cock as deep as it would go, grinding my hips 
against her as I did.

Finally, blissfully, I lost control. My cock swelled inside the 
sheath of her pussy and I felt a surge of semen burst from deep 
within me. When I swelled and pumped the first spurt into the 
condom, Kate joined me in orgasm, writhing against me deliciously 
as she rode the waves of her own climax.

I lost myself in the pleasures I was experiencing, and the feel 
of her body against me, experiencing her own pleasures. I don't 
know how long we came together, but when I finally opened my 
eyes, I looked down to find Kate crying quietly.

She opened her eyes and looked at me, and I quickly realized they 
were tears of happiness. The panic that had clutched my heart 
relaxed, and I kissed her cheeks, which were wet and salty from 
her tears. She wrapped her legs tighter about my hips and held me 
still. I crossed my arms beneath her back and hugged her to my 
chest.

"I think I like doing things your way," she said in a tired, 
completely satisfied voice.

"Good," I whispered in her ear. I kissed her ear lightly and she 
clutched me tighter still.

-----

Later, after we'd each taken a trip to the bathroom to clean up a 
little, we snuggled under her thick comforter. Kate melted into 
my arms and sighed contentedly. I pressed my face to her hair and 
inhaled her scent, wrapping my arms tighter about her and pulling 
her close. We were both dead tired from our exertions and easily 
fell asleep together, spoon-fashion.

Some time later, I awoke and looked around, mildly disoriented. 
It had been almost three months since I'd slept with anyone, and 
I guess I was a little out of practice. I looked at the clock, 
3:47 a.m., and pushed the covers down a little to cool off.

Kate felt me stir and wiggled her ass against me. I thought she 
must have reacted automatically, so I tried to go back to sleep. 
When she reached up and pulled my hand to her breast, I realized 
that she was awake too. I felt her breathing shift and her nipple 
hardened in my palm.

"It's been awhile since I slept with someone," she said softly, 
duplicating my thoughts from a few moments before.

"Me too."

"I didn't realize how much I missed it."

"Mmm, me too," I said, and pulled her to me.

She wriggled against me again, and despite our earlier marathon 
session, I felt my penis rising to the occasion. Kate felt it as 
well, and pressed her delectable ass against me. Her legs parted 
slightly and the tip of my erection slipped between them, rubbing 
against the baby-smooth skin of her labia.

"Are you still too sensitive?" I asked softly.

She shook her head.

"Are you okay with this?"

She moaned quietly. "Oooooh, yesssss."

I began to slowly thrust my hips back and forth, rubbing her 
pussy with my crown and shaft. I reached around with my left hand 
and ran it down her silky stomach. When my fingertips traced over 
her mons, she gasped and pressed against me harder still. I ran 
my middle finger over her slit and felt the moisture of her 
building arousal.

"Damn," she said softly.

"What is it?"

"All my condoms were in my purse."

"We can stop," I said. Stopping was the last thing I wanted to 
do, but I offered anyway. I guess it was the gentlemanly thing to 
do.

"Oh, nooooo."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said breathlessly, her arousal clearly evident. "I 
want to feel you inside me."

I kissed her on the shoulder and pulled the sheet back, trying to 
keep her covered as I did. "I'll be right back," I said.

Despite the fact that I'd been hot only a few minutes before, her 
bedroom was shockingly cold. My erection quickly shrank as I 
padded down the stairs. In the kitchen, I fumbled for the light. 
Once I found it, I quickly located my used condom from earlier. I 
picked it up, wrapped it in a few paper towels, and disposed of 
it in her trash compactor.

When I rounded the counter, I began looking for any of our unused 
condoms. I quickly spotted hers, the packs still connected, 
sitting on the breakfast table. I scooped them both up, turned 
out the lights, and walked slowly back towards the stairs as my 
eyes adjusted to the darkness again.

I pulled one package loose and slid into bed next to a very warm, 
very horny Kate. She hissed as my cold skin touched her, but 
bravely rolled towards me and draped herself over my body. She 
felt for the condom and took it from my fingers. She ripped the 
foil package open with her teeth, grinned impishly at me, and 
disappeared under the covers.

I knew what to expect, but it was still a shock when she captured 
the tip of my flaccid penis with her lips. She sucked my entire 
dick into her mouth and began to slowly work my swelling length 
with her lips and tongue. It took longer than usual, but I soon 
hardened in her mouth. She removed her lips from my member and 
then quickly replaced them. Although I didn't feel a thing out of 
the ordinary, I knew she'd just rolled the condom over my 
straining erection.

Kate climbed back up my torso and settled herself atop my hips, 
grinding her pussy against my shaft. I ran my hands up her 
flanks, feeling the smooth skin and firm muscles of her hips and 
back. With a soft moan, she reached between us, caught up my 
cock, and settled onto it.

I tweaked her nipples as she rode me slowly, setting a moderate 
pace and rubbing her clit against the base of my shaft every 
third or fourth stroke. She began to pant and rotate her hips 
after several delicious minutes, and I ran my hands down her back 
to cup her ass cheeks.

When she came, it was soft and fast, and she bent forward, 
burying her face against me. She bit my shoulder softly as her 
climax peaked, and then cried out, balling her fists against my 
chest. After little more than 15 seconds, her orgasm subsided and 
she looked at me happily. I couldn't resist, and lifted my head 
to kiss her tenderly. She responded against me, and began to move 
her hips in small circles, massaging me with her tight pussy. In 
no time, I was filling the condom, while Kate squirmed and 
shuddered in a mini-climax of her own.

We fell asleep like that: her resting on my chest, and my penis 
slowly shrinking, still within her.

-----

At 5:30 a.m., her alarm went off. Kate reached up automatically, 
and either hit the Snooze button or turned off the alarm. It 
didn't really matter to me; all that I cared about was the fact 
that the God-awful air raid siren had ceased its infernal 
wailing. It took me a moment to realize where I was, but when 
Kate snuggled against me, I quickly (and pleasantly) remembered. 
She lazily ran her hand through my sparse chest hair and took a 
deep, yawning breath. We lay there quietly for a while, simply 
enjoying each other's presence.

"When's the last time you were tested?" she asked, breaking the 
silence.

I mentally scratched my head and wondered what she was talking 
about. I finally drew a blank. "Huh?"

"When's the last time you were tested? For STDs and HIV?" she 
asked, clarifying.

I thought back. It had been more than a year, since before I'd 
started dating Charlotte. Since Charlotte, there hadn't been a 
woman in my life, and there had been no need to get tested. "It's 
been awhile," I said softly, yawning.

Kate yawned as well, and then snuggled closer. "Good. Me too. We 
need to get tested."

Alarm bells started going off in my head. I frantically thought 
back through the past 12 hours. Yes, I thought to myself, I was 
positive that I'd used a condom every time I'd penetrated her. 
Except in the bathroom at the Jazz Club, but that wasn't really 
penetration. But still...

Kate felt me tense up, and must have sense the reason. "It's 
nothing like that," she said soothingly. "I want to feel you come 
inside me. I don't want to have to fumble for a condom every time 
I want to have sex with you."

"And what makes you think I'm going to be around long enough to 
get tested?" I asked, throwing her words from the night before 
right back at her, albeit with a teasing tone.

She lifted herself on one elbow, the covers slipping from her 
shoulder and exposing one pear-shaped breast. She looked at me 
seriously, and I quickly got serious as well. "You'll be around 
until I'm done with you," she said.

I looked at her incredulously until she suddenly grinned. My arm 
was still wrapped around her, so I pulled her to me and kissed 
her, hard and deep. She pulled back, still grinning, but a little 
breathless, and beginning to flush with the first signs of 
desire.

"Seriously," I said. "Is this thing between us just about sex?" I 
knew what I wanted, but I couldn't tell her that. Not yet.

"I don't know," she said soberly. "I don't know what it is, yet. 
But I know that I like it. Is that good enough?"

I looked at her for a moment and let the silence draw out. My 
eyes searched hers for any hint of her true feelings. Finally, I 
nodded. "That's good enough. For now."

She kissed me again, tenderly, and rested her head on my 
shoulder, returning her fingers to my chest.

"I want breakfast in bed," she said softly.

"Oh? What can I fix you?"

"Nothing." She put her hand on my chest and lifted herself onto 
an elbow. "Just enjoy."

She pushed the covers back and crawled between my legs. When she 
discovered that my shriveled manhood was still safely encased in 
our early-morning condom, she giggled and pulled it off me. I 
reached for the box of Kleenex on her nightstand, pulled out 
several tissues, and handed them to her. She wadded the red latex 
in the tissues and handed the wad back to me so I could set it 
back on the nightstand.

With another giggle, she sucked my still damp penis into her 
mouth and nursed it to an erection. She curled up between my legs 
and I laced my fingers behind my head to relax and enjoy her 
talented mouth. It took me awhile, but Kate didn't complain. In 
fact, she seemed to enjoy herself, taking her time and sucking me 
all the way into the back of her throat. When I came, she hummed 
happily and swallowed it all.

When she finally released me, she crawled back up my body and 
settled gently atop me, her legs splayed to either side of my 
hips. I cupped her ass again and kissed her, tasting myself on 
her lips. She moaned against me and then broke the kiss.

"Mmm," she said, her eyes closed in delight. When she opened 
them, they sparkled, deep blue and utterly beautiful. "Let's 
shower. I have to be at the hospital by seven o'clock."

"What time do you get off?" I asked.

"As soon as I see you again," she said, teasing me.

I smiled and she giggled.

She got serious. "I _should_ be done by five, but in reality, 
it'll probably be closer to seven."

"Do you want to meet for dinner?"

She shook her head. "Bring something here. Something Italian."

"I can do that."

"And then, I want to open a bottle of wine, build a fire, and 
fuck you silly in front of it," she said, practically purring.

"I think I can do that as well."

"Mmm hmm. I _know_ you can do that," she said with a coy grin.

I nodded.

"Let's get in the shower then, I can't wait to soap you up and 
rub myself against you."

With that, she hopped up and pulled me after her, both of us 
grinning like teenagers.

-----

The shower was enjoyable but brief. Afterward, I had to go 
downstairs to retrieve all of my clothes. When I came back 
upstairs, Kate was drying her hair, in the nude. I dumped my 
clothes on the floor and came up behind her, wrapping my arms 
around her and cupping her breasts. She leaned back against me, 
but kept drying her hair. When she was done, she twisted it up 
and clipped it on top of her head.

That gave me the opportunity to kiss her long, sensuous neck, 
which I eagerly did. When she pressed her ass against me, I felt 
the stirrings of another erection, but neither of us had time for 
anything more. She had to get to the hospital, and I needed to 
call Moscow. They were eight hours ahead of Eastern Time, and I 
needed to talk to the team lead before everyone took their 
Christmas vacation. So I did nothing more than grind my semi-hard 
dick against her ass. She sighed once, deeply, and closed her 
eyes as I held her.

While I put on my clothes from the night before, Kate picked out 
a matching bra and panty set. I chuckled as she slid the sky blue 
bikini-style panties over her long legs.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing, really."

She looked at me, clearly unconvinced.

"I've just never seen you in panties, that's all," I said.

"I wear them most of the time."

"Oh?"

"You don't think I go around commando all the time, do you?" she 
asked, semi-incredulously.

"Well, now that you mention it, no. But I guess I was hoping..."

She smiled and walked towards me as I stood outside the bathroom, 
clad in only my jeans.

"That first time, at the Club, was just for fun," she said, 
although she used the real name of the restaurant. "I don't know 
why I flashed you."

"I'm glad you did," I said.

"Mmm, me too."

She stepped closer and I could feel the heat of her body.

"After that," she said, "I was having fun driving you crazy. I 
wanted to get your attention."

"It worked."

"Mmm hmm. I'm glad it did."

She ran her hands over my stomach and then up my chest. I work 
out at least three times a week, taking great pains to keep in 
shape, and was glad that she appreciated my chest and shoulders. 
I'm not Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I think I look pretty good. 
Evidently, Kate did too. She sighed wistfully as she rubbed her 
hand over my pecs, and I grinned at her expression.

"You look good in those jeans," she said.

"Thanks. You look pretty good in those panties."

"You think?"

I nodded. She was teasing me, but I've yet to meet a woman who 
doesn't like to be told that she looks good. And Kate _certainly_ 
looked good.

"If you're a good boy, maybe I'll show you some of my really fun 
underwear," she said coquettishly.

"And if you're a good girl, maybe I'll buy you some more."

"Maybe I'll even wear it," she said with teasing defiance.

"But not for long."

I leered at her and she grinned, but then looked at the clock and 
quickly got serious. "We've got to go. Otherwise, you're going to 
end up walking from Saint Mary's back to your car."

"Yeah."

I sat down on the bed and reached for my socks. As I put them on, 
I watched her pull some clean scrubs from her dresser and then a 
white lab coat from the closet. We hurriedly finished dressing 
and then I helped her make the bed.

When we got to the kitchen, she reached into the refrigerator and 
grabbed two bagels and two red apples. She tossed one of each to 
me, picked up her ID badge and purse, and then surveyed the 
clutter in the breakfast nook with a sigh. She dismissed it all 
with a casual wave, vowing to clean it up later.

When I'd retrieved my sweater from the garage, I'd brought in our 
coats as well, and she gratefully pulled hers off the chair back 
where I'd hung it. I grabbed my own coat, and we were ready to 
go.

Kate drove almost as aggressively as I did, and the trip from her 
house to the Jazz Club was quick and relatively terror-free (I am 
usually _not_ a good passenger, I like to be in control). We 
pulled up next to the Rover and she put the car in Park.

She reached into the center console and pulled out a prescription 
pad and a pen with a drug manufacturer's logo on it. She wrote 
down her phone number, ripped off the page, and handed it to me.

"This is my office number," she said, indicating paper. She had 
typical doctor's handwriting, which is to say it was the next 
closest thing to Sanskrit. "This is the best way to get in touch 
with me. Tell them your name, tell them it's personal, and 
they'll either find me or take a message."

I nodded, folded the slip of paper in half, and shoved it in my 
pocket. When I turned to her, she leaned across the center 
console. I met her halfway and she put her hand on the back of my 
head, pulling me close. Our lips met, and what started as a 
chaste kiss quickly became heated.

I ran my hand down her torso and cupped her breast. Through the 
scrubs and her bra, I felt her nipple harden in my palm, and she 
moaned as I tweaked it through the layers of fabric. When we 
broke the kiss, she nipped my lower lip with her teeth and pulled 
back grinning.

"I've got to go," she said. Her breathing was a little rapid and 
her face had begun to flush.

I leaned in and kissed her again, a quick peck on the lips, and 
then opened the door. I stood beside the Rover and watched her 
drive away. My car never had time to heat up, and I was in my 
office and on the phone to Moscow in less than 10 minutes. As I 
connected to the AT&T Conference Call center, I idly shuffled 
through the last of my pre-Christmas paperwork. I wanted to get 
everything done before noon. I had to do some last minute 
Christmas shopping at Victoria's Secret.

-----

An hour later, my call to Moscow was not going well. _Na huy!_

"What do you mean you lost them?!" I nearly shouted into the boom 
mike on my headset. Then I remembered myself, and spoke in 
Russian, trying to remain calm. _"Dima, what happened to the 
project files?"_

_"We had a power failure, and... nichivo,"_ he said.

_"Nichivo?! It does matter! When's your last backup?"_ I asked, 
my voice going deceptively soft.

_"Kolya?"_ Dima asked the other man on the conference call, who'd 
been fearfully quiet up to this point.

_"Two or three..."_

Days? I silently prayed.

_"Weeks,"_ Kolya said.

_"So you lost two or three weeks' work?"_ I asked, completely 
without inflection. Both men immediately picked up the dangerous 
tone of my voice and tried to explain at the same time. _"Stop! 
One at a time. Dima."_

Dima was the project lead. He was a decent manager, but he wasn't 
as technical as Kolya. Kolya would tell me what I really wanted 
to know, but to ask him first would be an insult to his boss.

_"We can fix it, Ethan,"_ Dima said. He pronounced my name Eszan, 
like most Russians. _"Kolya can explain."_

_"We haven't lost everything, Ethan,"_ Kolya said.

When I didn't immediately bite his head off, he continued.

_"We only lost the SourceSafe server, and... one other computer. We 
can recreate most of the lost work from the individual 
machines,"_ Kolya quickly explained.

_"Most?"_ I asked.

_"Da."_

_"But not all?"_

There was an ominous silence on the other end of the line, and I 
thought back through what Kolya had said. They only lost the 
SourceSafe server and... _"Which other computer did you lose, 
Kolya?"_

Both men were silent, and I repeated myself, once again without 
inflection.

_"Anastasia's,"_ Dima said heavily.

Anastasia. Stasya. She was the team's network protocol wizard. 
She was the core of the Russian team's part of the project. Her 
code was what let the servers communicate with each other. 
Without her code, none of the other pieces of the project would 
work together.

_"What happened, Kolya?"_ I asked coldly, asking his subordinate 
directly, no longer worried about upsetting Dima.

_"Stasya was working late. She was checking in her files, copying 
them up to the server for the nightly build, when... when the power 
went off,"_ Kolya said.

_"And?"_ I prompted.

_"And her hard drive crashed when the power failed, Ethan. I'm 
sorry, there was nothing I could do. I tried!"_

I knew he had. Kolya would have stayed up nights trying to 
recover the data from the hard drive. He was a good man to have 
on the team, as long as he only had to deal with the software and 
hardware. _"I know, Kolya. I know you did your best,"_ I said 
heavily.

_"Ethan...,"_ Dima said hesitantly.

_"Chto?"_

_"There's more."_

Could it really get worse? This would set us back a week, 
probably two, with the holidays. Stasya could rewrite her code, 
but it would take her time. It would take less time than it had 
taken to write it in the first place, but still... _"What is it, 
Dima?"_

_"It's Stasya."_

_"What about her?"_

_"Well... she... um..."_

_"Spit it out, Dima."_

_"She's in hospital."_

_"Why?"_ This was beginning to sound like a bad joke.

_"Her tooth."_

Dentistry in Russia was one of the few things that scared me more 
than the Russian Mafia. _"What happened, Dima?"_

In a few short sentences, he told me. She'd had a toothache, and 
after she went to have the tooth fixed, it had gotten infected. 
She was now in the hospital with a 39.5-degree fever. I did some 
quick math in my head, 103 degrees. Wow. That was bad.

_"How long will she be in hospital?"_ I asked, already starting 
to make contingency plans.

_"Ne znayu. A few days, a few weeks, no one knows. Nichivo."_

Sometimes I hated Russian fatalism. _"And why do you say that?"_ 
I asked, my voice tightly controlled.

_"We can have Lev or one of the others rebuild her code."_

Dima was being overly optimistic, and he knew it. Worse, he knew 
I knew it, and his voice held no conviction. Lev was a good GUI 
programmer, but he couldn't do network protocols. Dima was trying 
to save the project for his team, but he simply didn't have the 
resources.

_"No,"_ I said heavily. _"I'm going to bring someone else into 
the call. Wait a moment."_

I pushed the "0" button to call the AT&T conference operator. A 
woman with a pleasant voice, far more pleasant than I felt, asked 
how she could help me. Still thinking in Russian, I asked her to 
add a participant to our call. I quickly realized what I'd done, 
and started to rephrase in English, when she answered me in 
Russian. Thank God for AT&T, I thought. They knew I was talking 
to Russia, and they had assigned me an operator who spoke both 
languages. I took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a 
moment.

I opened my Daytimer and looked up Brad Behr's number in 
Washington, DC. Brad was one of my other network gurus. He was a 
freelancer, but he had the added benefits of being single and 
disliking his family. He was going to cost us an arm and a leg, 
but I knew he would slave away over the holidays to get things 
done. At least, I _hoped_ he would. If he'd somehow managed to 
find a girlfriend, and was spending the holidays with her, I was 
screwed.

I gave the operator his home phone and cell phone numbers, and 
she clicked off the line to locate my savior. When I rejoined 
Dima and Kolya, they were half-heartedly arguing about what it 
would take to rebuild their SourceSafe server. I listened to them 
discuss the server for a few minutes, until there was a click and 
a very groggy-sounding Brad joined the conference call.

"What's up, boss man?" Brad asked, and then yawned mightily.

I looked at my watch, and was surprised to see that it was only 
8:30 a.m. I felt like I'd worked at least 12 hours. With a mental 
sigh, I turned my attention back to Brad. "I need you to do some 
work for us," I said in English.

"Sure, man. I'm cool with it." Despite the fact that he was born 
and raised in Mount Rainier, Maryland, Brad spoke like a surfer-
dude. It was completely affected, but I guess it made him seem 
less like the computer geek that he proudly was. "Whachya need, 
dude?"

I quickly outlined the problem, promising him that a written 
specification would be in his e-mail within the hour, if he took 
on the project. Programmers like specifications. It takes a lot 
of the guesswork out of their job, and Brad knew I could write a 
spec that would save him from wasting his time.

"When d'you need it, man?" he asked, yawning again, but beginning 
to perk up as his mind wrapped itself around the problem.

I love a hard core techno-geek with a problem in front of him. I 
smiled to myself and dropped the other shoe. "One week."

"No way, man. Sorry. Even using a lot of my custom libraries, I 
can't do it in less than three weeks. And it'll cost you double, 
'cause it's over the holidays, man. I was gonna chill and watch 
some new DVD rips."

"Can't do it, Brad. I'll give you a bonus if you come in under 
deadline, but that's all I can do." I was trying to save myself a 
minor fortune, but Brad knew he had me over a barrel.

"Double, man."

"Sorry, Brad. I've already got a guy in Russia who can do it, but 
he's not as good as you."

The only person the Russians had who was anywhere near Brad's 
skill was Stasya, but he didn't know that. Besides, I figured a 
little ego-stroking couldn't hurt. It worked like a charm.

"But you still need my mojo if you want to get it done in three 
weeks," he said.

"One week, Brad. I need it in one week." I could tell he'd 
already decided to take the job, but he was going to play 
hardball, since he knew I needed him.

"Two, man. But it'll still cost you double."

Double was going to cost us something like $160 an hour. "Tell 
you what, Brad. Do this one at your regular rate, and if you get 
me all the code by December 30, I'll pay you a $5,000 bonus."

"I dunno, man."

"And fly you to Vegas for New Year's Eve."

"Jeez, man. That's still a lot of work."

"I'll hook you up with one of my cute friends while you're 
there." Brad thought I was a lady-killer, with a girl (or two) in 
every major city. In reality, one of my "cute friends" would be a 
high-priced escort, but he didn't have to know that. It would 
cost us another $1,000, and I'd have to figure out how to put it 
on the expense reports, but I was certain that Gabriel would see 
things my way.

"How cute?" he asked.

I had him! He knew it, and I knew it. I smiled to myself in 
relieved satisfaction.

"Very cute, Brad. Now, can I send you the spec?"

"Sure, man. I'm cool."

"I knew I could count on you, Brad," I said sincerely.

"Yeah, well, your friend better be cute."

"Oh, she is, Brad. She is," I assured him. At least, she _will_ 
be. "Brad, I've got Dima and Kolya on the call, from the Russian 
team." I'd completely ignored the Russians up to then. "Dima 
speaks English, he can send you whatever you need."

In truth, Dima's English was thickly accented, but serviceable. 
He and Brad started talking, and I noticed with a smile that 
Brad's surfer-dude speech patterns disappeared completely as he 
became more animated. Still smiling, I started doing math in my 
head again. Keeping him at his regular rate had saved us more 
than $5,000, even with the bonus and the trip to Vegas. He had at 
least 150 hours of work ahead of him, but I knew he could do it 
in the 12 days before the 30th. He might sleep the entire time he 
was in Vegas, but at least he'd have a nice girl in bed next to 
him and $17,000 in his bank account!

-----

Dima and Brad were still talking back and forth, with Dima 
occasionally asking Kolya for information. I was mostly riding 
herd on the conversation, and providing translations when Dima 
didn't understand Brad's slang. When my cell phone rang, I 
wondered what else could go wrong.

I raised the boom mike, muted the headset, and picked up my cell 
phone. I paused for a moment to make sure I was thinking in 
English, and then flipped the phone open.

"Hello," I said.

"Ethan?"

"Kate. What's up?" Despite the fact that I was really in the 
middle of something, it was a relief to hear her voice. At least 
_she_ wasn't going to tell me something had gone wrong with my 
project.

"One of the other doctors has the stomach flu, and I have to pick 
up his surgery this afternoon."

"Do we need to reschedule tonight?" I asked.

"Yes," she said quickly. Then her voice became sultry and I could 
almost picture her shielding the mouthpiece from any prying eyes. 
"Get over to the hospital in 15 minutes, though, and I'll make it 
up to you."

My penis stiffened immediately.

"I want you to bend me over my desk and fuck me hard," she said.

I could hear the desire coloring her voice.

"So get over here, right now."

In truth, I probably could leave Brad with Dima and Kolya, and 
let them work out the details. I'd have to e-mail Brad the spec 
I'd promised him, but that was already written and stored on my 
hard drive, just waiting for me to send it. But I needed to make 
sure that things went well, and that Brad had all he needed to 
start working immediately. The project was for our largest 
client, and was worth a _lot_ of money. Things had been going 
smoothly, on track for our beta testing at the end of the 
following month. That is, until the meltdown with the Russian 
team's source code.

"I'm in the middle of a conference call, Kate."

"Then get off the call and come get me off," she said 
insistently.

Something within me snapped, and I decided to make her wait. I 
double-checked the mute button on my headset base. It was a dull 
red, meaning the conference call couldn't hear me.

"I want to, Kate. There's nothing I'd love more than to spread 
you open with my cock, and then pound into you until you come all 
over me," I said, keeping my voice low.

"Mmm, yessss."

"But I can't."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, Kate. I can't." I didn't offer an explanation, 
although I could tell she clearly wanted one. "Let's get together 
tonight, after your surgery."

"No. Come over now. I need you."

"Kate. I can't." I could hear the desire and growing frustration 
in her voice. It was tightly suppressed, but I made my living 
dealing with people, and could easily hear the tell-tale signs. 
"Let's have a late dinner," I said reasonably.

"It'll be too late by the time I'm done," she said. "Come to the 
hospital now."

"I'm up late," I said, determined not to give in to her demands, 
no matter how horny I was.

"I'll be tired and sore," she said.

"Then I'll run you a hot bath, climb into it with you, and give 
you a backrub."

"After surgery, I just want to sleep," she said, almost 
petulantly. "Can you come over to my house tomorrow, after work?"

The best way to avoid telling someone "no" is to simply ignore 
the question. Or better yet, ask one of your own. "When's your 
next day off?" I asked.

"Sunday."

"Let's do something Sunday. All day."

"But I want to see you now," she said.

I grinned to myself at the tone of her voice. "Sunday," I said 
firmly.

"What are we going to do Sunday?" she asked coyly.

"It's a surprise." I had no idea what I could surprise her with, 
but was fairly certain that I could come up with something 
between now and then.

"What kind of surprise?"

"The kind of surprise that's a surprise," I said levelly.

"You won't come over now?" she asked, giving it one last try. "I 
could..."

"I can't, Kate," I said, cutting her off. "I'm sorry. I want to, 
but I can't."

"Sunday had better be good."

"Oh, it will be, Kate. It will be," I said as confidently as I 
could.

We said our goodbyes and I lowered the boom mike, stabbing the 
button to un-mute the headset. Brad, Dima, and Kolya had things 
well in hand, so I listened with half my attention and started 
feverishly planning my weekend.

As long as I was with Kate, it was guaranteed to be enjoyable. 
Tempestuous, but worth every minute of it.