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Halloween Wedding

By: JJ_Kennedy_Smith



This is my entry for the 2013 Halloween contest.

"I guess they didn't waste any time. I got the invitation a couple weeks ago. Halloween? Really? Who plans a Halloween wedding?" They both laughed at that and he shrugged.

"It sounds like a good time. Fun fun fun for all ages."

"Did you see that coming? The two of them together? Married?" She tilted her head tossing her hair over her shoulder. "First it was Julia and Paul getting together, then we lost Dave to that woman he brought to dinner twice, Jenny and Mara both married off and gone, now these two. I guess it's just the getting together with each other that makes me go, huh. We've all known each other so long I can't picture it, like it's almost incestuous, like kissing brothers and sisters."

"Well, I saw it coming. He's had it in his head for a while. Why do you think he hasn't dated anyone else since that hag, what was her name, the short one. Not everyone here only sees us as brothers." He punctuated that with a wink. "Kissing cousins maybe." She gave a small yelp from the kick under the table.

"He's been waiting to swoop in on her when the time was right." He moved his hand through the air like a bird to emphasis his joke. From there he ran his hand through the dark hair. To Juniper's envy that's all it ever got for styling.

His usual perma grin showed his amusement at her annoyance. It surprised him, she was usually the one in the know about these kinds of things. She could always see it for everyone else but not for herself.

The happy couple holding hands turned to wave from the doorway of the restaurant like sickeningly sweet school kids. A quick wave back at them and she turned her eyes to Donovan. He'd been watching the sweetheart cuteness too, with an expression that came as much from the display as from the response across the table. He rolled his eyes which could have been taken as humor for the PDA but was really a reaction to her. She always amused him.

She sat across from him stacking up the plates to push them aside when they were alone at the table. The group of friends that gathered for dinner every Sunday had gotten smaller and smaller as everyone's lives shifted from the carefree college kids to real life grown ups. Now they were starting to pair off together, not just with other people but now getting together with each other within the circle of friends.

"Juniper, will you go with me? We don't have to do a couples costume or anything." The mischief in his eyes says he knew how it sounded and he added the pleading tone for effect. "No really, you have to go with me. If I don't pick you up and keep you as a captive audience, you'll find some way to sneak away early or flake out entirely and not show up." His easy smile softened the truth. "I know this wedding is a whole list of things you hate. But they are both our friends, and you love them like a brother and a sister. It will hurt their feelings if you're not there," he said in a rare moment of seriousness.

"I don't hate..." Donovan quickly interrupted as he was ready for a number of different arguments and was entertained by her first choice. "Juniper Pearl Carter, I know you. I know you better than you'd like to admit. Shall I list the things about this you hate? Let's start with crowds in general, Halloween in principle, wearing a costume, the sappy public displays of affection, cheap cold food, a whole evening of small talk, shall I continue?" He swatted her elbow with the hand he'd just ticked off points on and made a face in response to the indignant expression across the table.

"But I like weddings." Her posture softened at the thought, her gaze drifted away as she twirled a curl of hair off her shoulder. She hid her dark eyes by looking away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right on all counts.

"Yeah, maybe you like them for the open bar." He scoffed and pushed back from the table, his long legs unfolding. They'd been to weddings together, they'd been to lots of things together. Together with a group or alone with each other. He knew how she worked.

"That's nice too but not the only reason." She shifted her weight to turn away from the table and reached for another curl to twist. A nervous habit but she liked how it made her hair look like the natural loose curls were tighter.

"Why then? Tell me why do you like weddings?" She was always one of his favorite people to tease because of the way they played off each other and together.

"I like to flirt with the dirty old men and their being drunk helps." She caught him finishing his beer and laughed at him when it almost ended up spit out on the table. She was playing with him but it was also the truth, not the only reason but one of them.

"You don't wait for weddings to do that and you don't need them drunk at any age." His voice sobered even if his expression still laughed. She could flirt her way into most anything, he'd seen her do it. She didn't go anywhere with it most of the time, she was just having fun. His mind wandered away for a moment. Those tits, ahh look what she can do. No don't look, don't get caught. Again. He chastised himself, he should be more respectful. She was a lady and she was his friend. What do the ladies like them called - boobs, they preferred boobs. Ahh look what she can do with those boobs. He shifted in his seat because just thinking about her tii...boobs could do that to him.

Juniper shifted in her seat a little thinking that might have been a dig at her dating history. The two of them had seen a lot happen in each others lives over the last few years. As the circle of friends got smaller the closer they became with those that were left. Sometimes it embarrassed her when she thought about the depth of personal details he knew, things only the closest girlfriends are supposed to be in on. He was definitely not a girlfriend but somehow had always been a safe confidante. Safe in that way a woman can talk with gay, married or inappropriately old men. He was definitely none of those either.

Donovan had also confessed to all kinds of sin, usually under the influence to some degree but she suspected the drunk was only a screen to hide behind, can't blame much on only a couple beers. He would often ask about the woman's perspective on matters of dating and love. By the end of these discussions she usually ended up saying the same thing, that if she knew what to do she'd be doing it in bed every night, wrapped around a man with the biggest cock imaginable with no time for his problems.

How did they end up so far into the 'friend zone' without ever doing anything about it? It was something they never talked about.

"I don't know what to be. A fireman? A cowboy? A cop?"

"Why don't you go as the entire 'Village People' and sing YMCA. Go look in the costume shop, they'll help you figure out what you want to be when you grow up. I gotta go, you ready?"

"Just get a dress, make yourself pretty and I'll pick you up." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her to his side as they made for the door. At his height her shoulders landed under his armpit when she didn't have heels on. This left a large space open below his ribs where she often gave him an elbow shot. He always exaggerated the force of it and usually played it up with sound effects. That day was no different.

"I'm always pretty." She responded to his fake hurt with an exaggerated pout, flipping her hair at him as they walked down the sidewalk. Waiting at the stop light to cross the road she gasped as he reached out taking a fistful of hair to point her face up to his.

"Don't flip your hair at me," in a playful growl "or I'll use it as a handle and you've just told me I'm nothing better than a bratty brother." This kind of joking sexual threat was not unheard of between them and others of the group but never the hair pulling. Her eyes shot open wide, darker than usual in the street light.

A thought raced through her mind, how do men learn how to grab hair so erotically without hurting too much, and had she told him at some point how much she liked it.

She shifted her eyes away first then her whole face as much as his grip would allow, afraid that he'd see the fire that he turned on in that instant. She was surprised that such a simple playful gesture could cause her to respond with such intense sexual heat, and from him. He was just playing, right? The warmth flushed her face and her panties.

When he released her hair, she wormed away from his grasp like a small child would and added the girlie whimper just for added effect to help convince herself that she wasn't suddenly incredibly horny. He was the only one of their friends that she played the little girl vs bratty brother with.

He was also the only one that she was so attracted to, and the one she labeled 'off limits'. It was an easy place to keep him; between his girlfriends, her boyfriends and the broken-hearted wallowing in-between they were safe.

Not in his mind, they were never safe. He would've taken her in a heartbeat had she made any offer. There were a couple girlfriends he would have dropped if she had made any offer. He caught a hint here or there, an eye down his body, leaning a little closer for a little longer. Every now and then he thought... maybe she's... But then she'd call him brother or brat and treat him like a gay faux beau.

"Brat." She turned left at the next street while his car was to the right. "See ya next week." A wave over her shoulder and she was gone just like every other dinner, movie, party, concert they'd been to.

******

The Sunday dinner table ended up with all the women on one end, the men on the other. It didn't matter because they were all talking about the upcoming wedding, everyone at the table having been invited. The happy couple were not there. They were already busy with preparations for the following weekend. From one end of the table to the other the topics ranged from chicks clucking with gossip to crude honeymoon jokes but everyone was talking about costumes.

The talk was about comfort for dancing, how much is too much cleavage in the naughty nurse, couples themed costumes, they were all excited. The ladies had been given the go ahead from the bride for things like the sexy kitten but some felt it inappropriate to be hanging out with with the father of the bride with their ass hanging out. The opinion of the table was split, not surprisingly, right down the middle.

Juniper had picked hers out on an excursion to the real costume shop, not just the Halloween store cheap crap. She was with the majority opinion of the women about not wanting full face masks or makeup. It's a wedding after all and there would be pictures, they wanted to be identifiable. The others were talking about their fun in the same shop as well. Donovan had taken the groom's brother with him and had the whole table laughing about the things they tried on.

This was going to be a loud, drunken, obnoxious wedding party.

*****

She heard the knock on the door from the bedroom. Damn it he's early, she swore under her breath. Today of all days he's early. She gathered the dress to cover herself just enough in front, turned the door handle and kicked it open, skipping any polite greeting with a growl and a tug at the dress.

"It's always wonderful to see you too. Why thank you, it's so nice of you to say how handsome I look today. I always try hard to impress you." His laughter followed her back out of the room. He dropped the clown props in the chair in the hall and sat down heavily on the sofa, he assumed it was going to be a while. She'd never been the kind of woman to be fashionably late or take forever getting ready but he knew this was more than usual and from the look of that dress it was more than a handful. Hmm, that dress, unzipped and open all down the back.

"Need a hand with that?" he called back over his shoulder while he shuffled through the pile of books and papers on the coffee table. For all the years they'd known each other he'd never spent much time there. Yeah he and a couple other guys helped her move in after graduation but none of them ever hung out at Juniper's place. Whenever it was his turn to be designated driver he was always a curb to curb taxi. He was always just the taxi driver. Never invited in at the end of the night.

"Whose idea was this anyway? Why did I let you talk me into this? Ugh!" He chuckled loud enough for her to hear in the bathroom. He knew that at times like this his happy easy going personality could annoy her even more, and he liked to poke the bear with a stick.

"What? Can't get it zipped up? Have you gained too much..." His words were stopped by a throw pillow to the head that helped his already messy hair be more so than usual.

"You are not a smart man saying shit like that," she snapped. He always knew just how far he could take the teasing before she inflicted bodily harm, and he had no doubt that she wouldn't hesitate if he stepped over that line.

"But yes, could you zip me?" she conceded grudgingly.

"Oh stop, you know you are so..." His compliment was caught away but he quickly recovered, "Alice in wonderland?" His eyes dropped down the dress shaped tightly around her breasts, to the thin waist, along her legs bare to mid thigh and back up to see the worry on her face. He was thankful she was distracted for that moment to snap his mind back into the platonic brotherly love mode. She had always been gorgeous, but probably didn't even realize how sexy she could make a pinafore.

"No. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Do I look like Alice? Dorothy has the dark hair, I didn't want to wear a blond wig." She turned her back to him presenting the zipper and let out a slow breath as his fingers ran along her spine closing the dress and leaving a line of sparks along her skin. The barrier of cloth blocked the feel of his unsteady exhalation, and she didn't hear it through the worry of being late or was it the the distraction of his touch.

"I need another minute, I still need to do my braids." She swept her dress away after looking down to study it with doubt then went back down the hall. Get yourself together girl. It's Just Donovan and he barely touched you.

"Do I look OK? The dress is so poofy. It's too much isn't it?" He'd heard her be insecure before. She usually hid it well but he figured every woman must be a little self-conscious, even a woman as beautiful as she was.

"You look fine dear," in that placating tone of voice. He'd seen her in every state of dress there is, fuzzy flannel sleep pants puking in the toilet to spackled, sprayed and painted at the black tie event held at the country club. His eyes narrowed at the ceiling as he thought back, no, he'd never seen her naked. Almost but not quite, that damn red bikini. He mentally slapped the back of his head with the thought, this is not the time to go there. She had even taken to calling him 'brother'; she was not going to be open to drunken wedding nakedness. No, that's not what he wanted with her either, not one cheap night, even if her tits do look so... Mmm. No, it's boobs. Dammit, No. Stop thinking about the boobs altogether.

"K, think I'm ready." She dropped the braid over the front of her shoulder so it landed at the bare swell of her breast bringing his eye and mind back to it.

"What kind of clown are you?"

"What kind do you want me to be?" He played with the suspenders, a coy smile on his face with eyelashes flashing. Yes, they need to get back to the usual flirty, playful, teasing each other selves and stay there. His mind was churning, get back to the usual, back to the usual.

"You don't really think you can be sexy in a clown suit do you?" She flicked the wide tie and stepped onto his oversized clown shoe with the tip of her ruby red slipper. To top off the typical clown attire his face was painted with an exaggerated smile, the bright red wig a part of the top hat. It was not too far to the creepy side and very inline with his fun loving personality. She looked him up and down.

"A clown is good, not sexy, but very you," she lied. Nope he can even do a clown sexy.

Turning to the door she blinked a little slower than necessary just to quiet the groaning in her head, thank God that he wasn't shirtless or something. He hadn't been seeing anyone lately and he always turned to the gym after a breakup so his body was harder and more toned than usual. Maybe he'll hook up with a bridesmaid or something, that'll keep his chest and abs out of sight and out of mind.

They both relaxed in the car talking about what this wedding might turn into, setting odds on the bet, will it be really cute and funny or a total nightmare. Juniper's wager was on disastrous and Donovan's on hilarious. The plan was that it would be like any other wedding and reception held at a nice restaurant with a lakeside patio. Well ya know, except for it being Halloween night with everyone dressed in costume and decorated like a haunted house.

They went in different directions almost before they hit the door. They weren't there as a couple so neither one felt the need to stay together. It wasn't supposed to matter to either of them if they left together or separately. They didn't need to worry about finding each other to get home, they always found each other, no matter how big the crowd.

The wedding turned out to be one big Halloween party. The whole place was decorated floor to ceiling like a haunted house, a graveyard set up next to the patio, the staff all skeletons. The tower of cupcakes had sugar shaped ghosts, spiders, bats or pumpkins on top.

The party goers gathered for a lakeside ceremony officiated by the Pope with the best man and maid of honor being a pirate and his wench. The lovely bride was given away by a good likeness of Fred Astaire before he went back to an even better likeness of Ginger Rogers, sitting in the mother-of-the-bride's seat. The families on both sides made a good and creative showing. Many genres of music were represented, fairy tales, pop culture and a hat trick of superheroes; Superman, Spiderman and Batman. The union was even blessed by the attendance of Jesus Christ or as he was more often known 'John' who took an extra year to graduate for all his pot smoking. The bride and groom were... a bride and groom.

The fun was contagious, people couldn't help but smile. The happy couple had been friends for so long it seemed like everyone at the party knew each other, both the guests and families. There were a surprising number of small or school age children, and they were all having a blast. Actually everyone was acting like they were big kids behind the anonymous illusion of masks. Some of the costumes were so good it was hard to figure out who it was and they all played it up.

The far side of the room had started to fill up with the friends from college. Anyone that had ever been a part of the dinners on Sundays was there. It was more people together at one time than at any other single Sunday except maybe the Super Bowl.

The dinner and all the other usual wedding traditions and obligations kept the kids, of all ages, from getting too rowdy, too early anyway. Juniper found herself chatting at a table of people that had all but disappeared from her life, and she quickly realized why she hadn't missed them. It was nice to see them but that was it, just nice. She was getting bored with the idle small talk that she guessed was mostly bullshit about their successes in life. She eyed the room to see a few other people with the same opinion and found Donovan at the bar chatting with a woman that looked a little familiar.

Donovan's response to the quiet 'grown up' portion of the wedding was to drink too much too fast. He wasn't usually the kind to get over the top drunk, and when he realized it he all but stopped after dinner. He chose instead to carry around a glass of amber colored liquid, mostly melted ice, to ward off the 'you need a drink' friendly offers.


Halloween Wedding



When the mingling started back full swing he was a little surprised at the number of women, the ratio of the sexes was severely off center. Ordinarily this would've made him as happy as a kid in candy land but tonight's offerings weren't very interesting for some reason.

There was family on both sides that were either too young or too old. There were women with husbands or boyfriends that didn't even need to be said, off limits. There were quite a few women from Sundays that he knew very well, maybe too well to be interested in dating for any amount of time.

That was when it hit him, he wasn't looking for a wedding hook up, that's why nothing was sparking his interest. It had been a while since he was in a real relationship, not necessarily a settle down forever thing but at least a sex every Saturday night thing. A year. It had hurt when his last girlfriend left him and there'd been nothing since then that had lasted more than a few months. He didn't have commitment issues but hadn't wanted to get married then. She moved in when they were twenty five and two years of living together hadn't changed that, so she left.

He was a catch, a nice guy, successful, tall, dark and he considered himself still good looking. Since being a teenager he never had trouble getting girls; he had trouble keeping them or staying happy with them. He made a mental note to ask someone for a female perspective, again. Juniper, he'd ask her, she always had something to say about that stuff. Why was that?

When the dancing started Juniper was among the first crowd on the floor. She danced with old friends, current friends, the bride's family, men she only knew in passing. She was even on the floor in one of those kinds of songs where a gaggle of women all dance together wildly.

There were a couple men in particular that kept coming back for the next dance, the groom's uncle being most persistent. He had to be almost sixty, but he was a good dancer and could keep up with the music. He was little handsy to be a harmless flirt but she had dealt with worse before. A fair trade for a good dance partner. The other tenacious dancer was less harmless and more flirt. He was so charming she worried about where she might let herself be taken if given enough to drink. She decided to leave her glass on the bar.

Where the dirty old man took the hint and left her alone when she had enough groping. The charmer was slick, he looked to swoop in for more. All she wanted to do was have a good time, visit with friends, dance and laugh. She really didn't want to deal with the hassle of a pick up, and just looking at him it was obvious he had nothing more to offer than one night. She'd sure enjoyed looking at him, but then he would open his mouth.

Scanning the room she thought about an exit strategy from any more of him. There were other people she wanted to visit with, and some of them were starting to leave. At least she thought that's who they were, she hadn't identified everyone and what they were wearing.

Donovan scanned the bar area over the shoulder of a woman he knew from school, she was boring him to near tears. He caught Juniper's eye and saw that she had a touch of that expression she got when her personal space was being invaded. He had always laughed at her personal space comfort needs, they shifted from situation to situation. When talking in a crowd where most people would lean in to be heard, she wanted elbow room. When on the dance floor, with the right man, and the right song, she wanted almost no space between them. He'd even been lucky enough to be caught at the time and place for one of those songs a few times. From across the room, this didn't look like the right anything.

He wrapped up the boring chit chat on the verge of being rude about it and headed over to Juniper with two fresh drinks. Da da da dah super Donovan to the rescue. His height and the posture he assumed for the task combined to be an intimidating force. He knew this and had used it to back off unwanted attention for many of his lady friends. She spotted him on his way and grinned with relief; she knew the spiel, they'd done this before.

He walked up square to them. He passed a drink to her far hand, his arm effectively making space between the two. A kiss on her cheek before an arm around her shoulders got a half step back from Mr. Slick. A wide smile and low voice while introducing himself got another half step after a handshake that might have been a bit firm. That's right, you'd better back up. She's mine. Mine? My what?

"Did ya have fun dancing? I'm getting lonely without you," he addressed Juniper but then turned to their new friend. "I'm a terrible dancer. She won't dance with me anymore. I step all over her toes." Donovan's tone of voice was dangerous even if his words were superficially harmless. She'd heard it before, he used it well.

She didn't wait for a minute of small talk before she finished up their little one-act play. The poor guy wasn't so slick or charming with Donovan. She wanted to move on. His arm around her always made her feel safe and secure.

"Did you see Bob? We need to talk to him before he leaves, come on. Thanks for the dance." She tossed over her shoulder while walking away. Yes, she used the 'we' word like a weapon. She released her grip around his waist to walk out from his arm then turned to take his hand in hers.

She flashed that 'we're such a happy couple' high-dollar smile that Donovan had seen many times before and knew was reserved for occasions that she was lying. He knew what her 'happy couple look' looked like, and this wasn't it. He had never gotten it from her; in fact it had been a while since he'd gotten that look from anyone. Hand in hand and closer than they needed to be, they crossed the room to Bob and his wife who were on their way out.

Mission accomplished.

"What do you expect? You dance like that for half the night and think there's nothing on a guys mind. You know what that body can do to a man. Any man." Damn it, he thought, me too. "Come on, let's dance. He's still by the bar." He steered her onto the dance floor with his hand on her low back. Both his natural, easy smile and the theater smile he used for occasions like this, were gone. A tinge of irritation showed on his face, or was it something else, she wondered.

"I know what I said to him was bullshit, but whatever happened to the rule about dancing with the one that brought you? I'm a good dancer." He tried to sound relaxed.

"What rule is that? I don't know anything about that," she said, narrowing her eyes to look up into his, partly to laugh with him but also to assess his temperament. He had a tendency to be moody when drinking too much, and she didn't know where he was with that. It could go either way so he had to be figured out on a case by case basis.

He swayed to the slow song and pulled her in, claiming all her personal space, just how she liked it. He knew what she wanted, she shouldn't be out looking for it with jerks. Jerks that treated her badly, lied, and cheated. He had to snap his mind back to the dance floor. He returned his happy face to its place, but it was only half real.

His clown shoes weren't conducive to dancing, so they ended up doing nothing more than the high school prom sway. But that worked well for the cock-blocking story they had just used for Mr. Slick anyway. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and they easily shared gossip and carelessly laughed about costumes. He eyed the bar to make sure he was seen as he bent down to whisper in her ear while running his hand along her back. The same back he'd felt earlier while zipping her. He didn't notice her tremble slightly, and she didn't notice his chest stop moving for that moment.

"Why do you do that?" He was still annoyed and not sure why. The wedding was really a lot of fun and had turned into a great party. He was happy to see so many old friends in one place and knew it might be the last time they'd get together. He shouldn't have been so irritated.

"I was fine," she replied, curious of his mood.

"I know, you're always fine. But why do you let yourself be backed into a corner like that? Are you that drunk? It's not even midnight. What if I wasn't here to save you?" He looked away from her eyes that were searching for what was really bothering him. He didn't know the answer to her unspoken question either. Not yet.

"I'm not drunk. Are you? Is that why you're being all..." Her thought dropped, she couldn't name it.

"I think he's given up now. It should be safe to go back to dancing if you want." He turned back to face Juniper having regained his playful smirk. "I'll be ready to save you next time too." He winked as he unwrapped her from his arms and headed over to a group of guys. They were standing against the wall communicating with fist bumps, handshakes and the general caveman style grunts of testosterone.

It was less than an hour later that she needed the restroom. She turned the corner into the hallway and bumped into one of the bridesmaids. She had to hold onto both arms to keep her from falling. She looked down at the young girl with the uncontrolled giggles. Juniper tried to hold her up against the wall and noticed that the whole side of her mouth and most of her cheek were smeared with red and white stage makeup that didn't fit with her costume.

"Are you okay?" The only response was more giggles that were joined by some from another girl staggering down the hall. "Here, help your friend, she's not in good shape." The new girl took the weight of the bridesmaid as they slid back toward the main room, trailing laughter behind them.

She watched them go with a head shake and a grin, remembering the days when she found herself in a similar state. Not like now. Now that she's older, wiser, and more mature. Her own giggle escaped. She couldn't even think that with a straight face.

On the surface she was a successful adult, good job, nice house (a rental but still). Hell, she'd even started a retirement account. She didn't want to feel like a boring grown up; she wanted to laugh over pizza and lay in the grass, so she did often.

When she turned back to the hallway she was startled again when the tall shadow of Donovan stepped out from the corner. When he moved into the light she burst into laughter at the sight of his white and red clown makeup smeared across his face.

"Oh my God! She's a little young don't you think? But I guess she's legal so..." the words died in her throat when the expression on his face sunk in. Behind what was left of the greasepaint grin his eyes were shocked, stunned, maybe a little panicked. The clown tie and suspenders were crooked and his shirt was untucked.

"What's wrong?"

"I, I..." His spooked eyes darted down the hall and back to her. "She, she..." As he tried to straighten his clothes. "I got attacked." She'd never seen him look like this, almost scared. Scared of a little girl. Still she couldn't hold in her own laughter that escaped through the hand over her mouth.

"Oh honey bee, it's okay, you're safe now from that big bad little girl." She reached out to fix his wide red tie making that sad puppy face at him.

"I've been molested and you're making fun." He leaned back away from her in offense. "It's not funny. She grabbed my package, shoved her hand right down my pants and grabbed me. It was... I was... I don't even know how that happened? I just closed the door and turned around and she grabbed me." A heavy sigh escaped him as he looked to the ceiling. Her amusement settled down when she saw just how bothered he was.

"Here you can't go out there looking like this, especially not with her looking like that. It's too dark out here in the hall. Come on, I'll help fix you up." She turned to open the next door down, the ladies room.

After inspecting the damage in the light she shook her head, "I don't suppose you brought the makeup with you for touch ups did you? Of course not, you're a guy." She opened her purse to fish around in it. A well-prepared woman always carried supplies, and she was well-stocked for a wedding. "I think it needs to all go. Okay?"

First she wiped the majority of it away with toilet paper. She did it for him knowing that he'd make a bigger mess. She cleaned more of it away with a moist towelette from her purse. He was hardly aware of what was happening until she stopped touching him. It felt as if it were the most natural thing, her hands on his face.

"I don't even know how that happened," he said as if looking for the answer. His dilemma didn't stop him from checking out the ladies room like it was a guarded mystery.

"Why are you so upset? So you got a little grabass. Surely you've been groped before?" She kept working to get all the red off from around his lips and he wasn't helping by talking.

"Here you finish this." She handed him a fresh towelette getting his attention, and he checked himself in the mirror to continue cleaning.

The door opened, and their friend Tasha burst through obviously a little drunk. She was swaying and laughing a little too loud but stopped in her tracks when she saw the two of them together. He straightened up thinking he should make a quick exit after being caught in the sacred place for women only. He realized they had been caught in what could look like a compromising position.

"No, no, don't leave on my account, you go ahead and finish what you started there. I just need to..." She seemed to lose her train of thought and turned to the stall door to concentrate on making it through.

"You know, I always wondered why the two of you weren't together back in freshman year. What took you so long? Or how long have you been hiding?" Tasha went on talking from behind the stall door like it was any other conversation, making him a little uncomfortable.

"I have to say Don, I thought you were a little more classy than screwing in the ladies room."

Juniper laughed out loud at Tasha's assumption but also at Donovan's feathers visibly ruffled from the nickname that he hated. No one had used that more than once since the last middle school bloody nose he served up. She couldn't keep from snickering as he sputtered in denial; the night was not going well for him.

She could only shake her head at the seemingly compromising position. Tasha's presumption was understandable, unfortunately untrue but understandable. When the door had opened she had found herself between him and the mirror while he was leaning in to check his reflection. They had been very close and face to face. It wouldn't have been very far to go to have been up on the counter with her legs wrapped around him.

The gossip and rumors that went around the circle were really not as bad as the truth sometimes, so a story like this wasn't going to create any major shockwaves. She wasn't worried about it; he probably wouldn't have been on any other night. But he was thrown off his game by being felt up by a strange young girl.

"Hey Tasha, you got a ride home tonight?" As she washed up at the sink next to Donovan.

"Actually we moved out of town this spring so I'm staying at the hotel at the end of the block with my fiancee. He was Axl Rose tonight. Did you see him? He's so... He started work at ... He gave me..." On the third swipe she got a hold of the door handle and continued to babble down the hall leaving them alone again.

"There you go, all handsome again, well a handsome clown anyway." She stepped out from in front of him to look at the reflection in the mirror. She swatted him on the butt to avoid an awkward pause and because she liked to.

"You feel better about your sexual assault? Not going to press charges? Welcome to the world of getting mauled like women do." He turned to face her letting out a sigh.

She never knew how to handle him under these kinds of circumstances when he was upset. She usually only ever reacted with humor and that would distract him for the moment. Tonight that didn't seem to work so she tried her only other method.

"It's ok, you're ok." And wrapped her arms around his neck. His nose lowered to her hair, breathing in the flowered scent. She could feel the tension leave him. Leaning into each other they took comfort from one another like they'd done countless times before.

His palm brushed down the back of her head and he took a braid between two fingers. Her breathing stopped in anticipation of a tug on her hair. She worried he might have caught on to her reaction the last time he had her by the hair. He only watched as he wrapped it around his fingers.

"Let's go before anyone else comes in. You look like you need a beer." She moved backward away from his warmth. Her ulterior motive was to get back out in the open where she wouldn't be tempted to do more than just hug a friend.

He was also happy to hide in the crowd to keep himself from being visibly hard under the clown pants. The feel of her body against him both calmed and excited him. The smell of her hair was intoxicating. He thought he'd felt her stiffen in his arms. He really wasn't above screwing in a public restroom. Had he just missed a chance there, not for sex but for something... more?

"Is that what it's really like for you, for women I mean, being touched like that?" He lifted the beer but stopped at only a small sip, since he hadn't wanted another. The night went from a good time party to confused feelings that as a guy he avoided at all costs. He didn't know what it was that kept nagging him. Or he knew, and... didn't want to know.

"No, as a woman we're usually physically intimidated as well. What are you? About six foot one? Maybe two hundred ten pounds?"

"More. More of both."

"She was five four tops. Think about how it would've felt the other way around." She scanned the room and leaned to look over his shoulder with an odd twinge of protectiveness. She caught him lost in her show of cleavage and quickly pushed aside the feeling. She hadn't meant to flash him. This time she hadn't meant to.

"I don't see her or any of her little friends. Hopefully they've gotten her down for the night before she can scare anyone else." She reached across the table to pat his hand like a child's at the flash of embarrassment across his face. He didn't last long before being able to turn back to his usual mode of fun and teasing.

"I feel so dirty and ashamed." With a wink and a tip of the beer bottle. They sat quietly watching the festivities, the dancing, taking in the Halloween spirit.

"Hey now, about what Tasha said." He just couldn't keep the fun, carefree, easy time there, something else was on his mind.

"I won't ever call you that name I promise. Don't worry." Thinking that's what had really bothered him and wanted to rib him about it.

"Yeah don't. But the other thing, about us never having gotten together. Why is that? Looking back on it now, I can't think why we never did?" She swallowed her drink and paused another beat before she turned back to figure out what he was really asking. It didn't look like he was making fun, neither did he look overly serious. It was just curiosity. OK she thought, I can play this out.

"We've never gotten more involved because you're a jackass." His lazy grin was amused by this, alright he can play too. He was good at this game.

"The problem with that point is that I'm not a jackass."

"You're right, you're not." She took her stance to fight him with sarcasm. Verbal sparing was a good way to handle this. That would keep it casual.

"Maybe it's cuz you've always been such a cold hearted bitch?" They were playing like they usually did, and he always pushed it farther. He knew what he could get away with and what pushed her buttons. He really enjoyed the color she turned when they really got into it. She didn't blush; it was more of a wash of warmth all over. Her eyes would twinkle and her lips would get tight at the upturned corners.




Halloween Wedding



He was such a good liar. Sitting back, poker faced, pretending he didn't have to shift his pants off the growing bulge. It made him even hotter when they fought for real.

"Hmm maybe, but you know I'm not." She mirrored his 'for show' relaxed posture as they each eyed their opponent. "Unattractive?"

He snorted in response to the attempted stab at herself.

"Nope. That's not it. You know that men hold the door open just to watch your ass, and you've caught me countless times checking out your cleavage. Hell, you just did. You know you're gorgeous." His voice shifted to his bullshit mode, "And as for me, I'm God's gift to women everywhere." She wasn't the only one to use sarcasm. While his eyes remained on her chest, decorative confetti flew across the table to land in his hair. She let out a squeal of disbelief at his nerve.

"There you go, that's the reason, you're a man whore and I'm afraid to catch something."

"Good point, if it were true. Omitting freshman year I think you've met every one of my girlfriends at one point or another, even that blond weekend fling. You know I don't whore around, I'm a one at a time kinda guy."

He took her hand to lead the way onto the patio next to the fake graveyard where it was not as loud but still involved in the party. He wanted to hear this. Tonight they were going to talk about the two of them and figure out what the problem was. If there was a problem. If not, then...

"There it is. We know too much, we've seen too much. I'm like a sister." She looked for her beer thinking she wasn't drunk enough for this conversation.

"Hmm maybe, but my sister doesn't have great tits like yours," he said with a shrug, taking a long moment to raise his gaze from her chest to her eyes. "You can't tell me you've never thought about me like that, thought about my body. Hell you've caught me naked a couple times." He leaned in closer to lower his voice and went on.

"Do you picture me when you're alone, in bed, late at night?" His voice was smooth with lashes flashing over bedroom eyes. She'd seen him play this slick seduction scene before: the eyes, the voice, the lean in to touch her. But when it was between the two of them it had always been part of a game that he'd grin and crack up at. Tonight something was off. He didn't laugh.

"Your naked ass is a sight to remember. I bet every woman on that boat remembers." After a pause she turned to face him again across the table. Her eyes were daring him, and he was taking the challenge. They were testing each other, trying to see which way this would go. Sometimes, like tonight, she couldn't tell how much of it he was putting on for show or how much might be real, hiding behind a joke.

"Why are you letting something stupid that Tasha said when she was drunk get to you? Is it because you were groped tonight? Did it rattle you that much?"

The problem was that she didn't know the answer to Tasha's question either. He was one of her best friends. They did lots of things together, shared interests and hobbies. He was one of those genuinely nice guys once you got beyond the smartass and laughter but that was plenty of fun too. And yes, she was very attracted to him all around. She knew he found her attractive, but he'd never thrown her up against a wall, not even when they were drunk.

She had always assumed that the two of them had somehow ended up in the friend zone, and neither one of them cared enough to try to break out of it. Oh yeah, and the marriage and babies thing. She assumed that he assumed that he wanted them, although all the evidence of his actions said otherwise. She'd always known she never wanted any kids. She'd never felt the biological clock, or even much of a maternal instinct.

"I'm just asking. I'd want to know if there was something fundamentally wrong with me. What is it about me that says I've got nothing more to offer?"

Juniper's shoulders slid down a little when she realized that this was a real conversation. No matter what kind of joke sparked it, it was real and she couldn't get out of it. They could both try to play fun with it but they were talking about the truth. They weren't drunk enough to deny it in the morning. They were sitting across from each other, telling the truth about things they'd never talked about.

"There's nothing wrong with you." He leaned forward in his chair and waited expectantly for her to go on, his chin in his hand.

"That's not why she left. She-that-must-not-be-named left because the two of you weren't right together." He choked on the beer as it sprayed out onto his clown pants. The Harry Potter reference was too much for him.

He knew how Juniper felt about the witch the whole two years he was under the spell and lived there. But she had more or less kept the dislike to herself. He really appreciated the fact that she skipped the part of the breakup where people announced 'I never liked that bitch'. The two of them had managed to stay fairly close through that time of the bitch's rein, at least on Sundays. She-that-must-be-named had a standing tennis date then.

She wasn't trying to derail this into something flip so she went on before he recovered himself. "You were superficially good together but there was nothing solid to back it up. Were you guys even in love at the end?" She could usually push him that far but worried that tonight was not the night. "You two were a cute couple with perfect teeth, a cute apartment, a cute dog... You guys were very..."

"Cute?" He'd heard this before in the other postmortems of the relationship.

"Yeah. She called it marriage but she left because she wanted something, and there wasn't anything... anything more. You know what I'm trying to say?"

"Yeah, I know. She wanted to be married, not necessarily marry me. I wanted... something different. Different than her. So that was a year ago, now what's the excuse? What's my excuse?"

"A year? Well, you were hurting for a while so you picked a bimbo to ease the pain." She made a stroking gesture with her fist. "Then you picked a woman that wouldn't hurt you. Those types never have much to offer, so you got bored. This is only my opinion, what it looks like from my chair. I'm not trying to say... Oh I'm going to stop, I don't know what I'm trying to say." He took note that again she could see right through other people's shit but didn't have a clue with what was going on in hers.

Maybe she didn't have a clue. Maybe she never knew how easily she could have had it. Just an invitation into the front door on any of those nights they spent out with whoever doing whatever. He could have... What an idiot he was. He could have pushed up against the door.

He shook his head trying to clear it before he attempted to take back the direction of the conversation. He didn't want to rehash the failed relationship. Again. She saw through the bullshit and called him on it. Tonight he wanted to know about Juniper. He wanted to know about the two of them.

"OK. Fine. You're right about me but what about you? Stop avoiding my question. Do you ever think about me like that? About us? In all the years we've known each other?" He was watching for her reaction with that look of his, not the sexy hunter but the 'I'm charming and I know it' look.

"If we're going to talk about thinking about you, then we'd have a harder time finding a straight woman in this room that wouldn't think about you. You are... all that, but hardly ever single." She looked him up and down waving the back of her hand across the table in a dismissive gesture. She flicked her braid back over her shoulder after reaching for a curl to twirl and coming up empty. She was trying to keep this light but it wasn't working. She didn't even know why she was trying so hard to keep it light.

"You've almost always had a woman, or one waiting, or waiting to get rid of one. If you think back over the years, our stretches of being single didn't match up very often. You were or I was or that year you worked out of state, we always had bad timing."

"Bad timing? Is that what you blame it on?" He pushed back away from the table giving up physical space trying to keep her confession going.

"Bad timing and fear." His body language along with his choice of words, or lack of, helped her along.

"Fear?" He was offering up rope for her to hang herself with.

"Yes fear. You've been one of my closest friends and I rely on you for a lot. I've always set aside any attraction because of the fear of losing my good friend. I can get another lover almost anywhere, but a friend... A friend that I need as much as you..." He waited for her to go on.

"This is an age-old story, It's everywhere, books, and movies. The story of two friends goes one of two ways, they never get together and are happy in their friendship pining away forever, or they get together then things go south and they never speak to each other again."

What was her choice tonight? Were they going to attempt plan C? A pause settled in between them threatening to be uncomfortable. He wouldn't let that happen and gave up the pressure. He tried to cut the tension but his choice of topic may have been questionable.

"Did you know that we talk about you? The guys, we talk about you and your body in a terribly demeaning sexual scenario way, like verbal porn." He said like it was nothing, like he was talking about the weather.

"Really? Depraved sexual fantasy. You're telling me about it now after how long?" She wasn't sure if she was offended or flattered. She couldn't tell where he was anymore, but it looked to her like he was thinking about plan B or C.

"I just wanted you to know that I think about you like that. I've put you into many masturbation film reels over the years." He cocked his eyebrow at her. "I think you'd like most of the plots and location developments." This turned the tension into something else and had his inner sexual predator going.

He'd never been the kind of guy to push a woman up against the wall and take her; he'd never needed to. He played more the spider to the fly, setting his web and luring them into being helplessly caught. With Juniper he'd been waiting for her. At that moment he wondered what would have happened if he had stalked and pounced.

"Like the front deck of that boat, an elevator or the gym on that weight machine? Boring, all very tame and even mainstream Hollywood rated R has done them all." He laughed long and hard at her observation.

"You think you know me so well, you'll be shocked. What about at a wedding?"

"That's not a good fantasy. Trust me I've done it, and I did it with a lot more taffeta. I'm not having sex with you at this wedding. You're crazy." She reached down to fluff her skirt.

"That's why you love me, because I'm your kind of crazy." He stood, lifted her up by one hand and turned it to trace her knuckles with his thumb. Neither one could look away, both curious and questioning the other's eyes like the answer was in there.

The 'L' word had been out there for years between them, there was no going back now. Mostly in fun like the 'luv ya bye' or a 'love n kisses' text but also in the arguments that end with 'don't be mad you know you love me'.

"Kiss me and I'll show you I'm not your brother." How does any women resist him when he looked at them like that. But she managed to turn away. It was physically hard for her to turn her head away.

"At least take me home first. There'll be enough gossip about the ladies room incident without us really giving them something to talk about." She wasn't going to win this card game. He had the better poker face.

"Come on, people are leaving, let's say goodbye then go." She led the way off the patio through the cobweb door and he watched the poofy skirt sway invitingly. "I don't want to kiss red clown lips anyway. You need to clean that up." Then yelped through her laughter at the swat to her rear. He had gotten through the poof to land it on her ass.

There were a lot of goodbyes said before the night at the Halloween wedding reception was over. They were both dragging it out, like the moment had passed and now they had second thoughts. Juniper thought that he'd back out, and Donovan thought she would, so they both stayed longer at the party. They were prolonging the agony, like torture.

After hugging and kissing friends she might see next week and others she'd probably never see again, she drew in a deep breath thinking she was alone at the moment. An arm wrapped around her waist from behind and continued around her belly causing a little scream to escape. Her back was pulled up against a broad chest and an evil cackle tickled her ear.

"Scared you? Come on this isn't a very good haunted house for that. But I'll never turn down holding you tight while you scream. For whatever reason. Ready to go? Ready to see that I'm not your brother?"

His head stayed tucked low over her ear as he talked close enough for his breath on her neck to raise goosebumps.

She twisted around in his arms so his hands lay very low on her back just shy of grabbing a handful of ass. She ran her fingers through his hair to grab a fistfull in a playful attempt at dominance. She pulled him down not quite to her lips and turned away before they met. As all the air left his lungs, it carried with it a long slow 'damn' and the sound of his frustration This might ruin everything but at least tonight was going to be good.

Raising up on tiptoes to whisper more torture in his ear she slid her body against his, pressing into him where she could feel him growing between them. His groan was a little too loud and was caught by another group of guests leaving.

Juniper was still busy trying to stuff the puffy skirt around her as she wrestled with the seatbelt when Donovan started the car.

"Ugh. I hate taffeta! No, I guess this is something else that makes it so big, tulle I think. And it's noisy, all night long, swish swish swish."

"Well then, I'll offer my help in getting you out of it," he said in his worst lecherous tone. His playful grin wasn't joined with the usual laughter in his eyes. He turned back to the road, not totally sure of the new territory.

"You're all talk." She also turned back to the window.

"Yup. I will talk you right out of that dress." Still playing the smug and cocky role that they both loved to hate. The mood in the car had settled into quiet, but not awkward, and they sat back to relax for a few minutes.

"I heard someone ask you about your name but I missed the answer. I don't think I've ever heard the story of Juniper Pearl."

"Really? I've never told you how I came to have this name? You of all people. Funny." She turned to him looking for any telltale signs of bullshit.

"What? Me of all people? What does that mean?" He thought maybe he should be offended.

"I just can't believe I've never told you, that's all." Her laughter made him join in even though he didn't know what they were laughing at. "Well, Pearl is my mother's sister, but that's not the interesting part for you." She waited for her laughter to settle down and for effect before telling the story.

"I'm named after a late 60's song 'Jennifer Juniper'." Thinking that's all that needs to be said, but his silence and blank stare told her she needed to give more.

"By the folk singer Donovan." She watched as recognition spread over his face then he burst out.

"No shit! Really? That's - that's - That's actually a little weird." His laughter went on long and loud. "Really? There's a song 'Jennifer Juniper' by Donovan. How could you have not told me this before? Donovan what?"

"Just Donovan. He sounds a little like Bob Dylan. You've never heard of him before? You don't have any hippie grandparents or someone that old?" For a moment she remembered her father.

"Oh baby, we need to get this song on. I need to hear this." He got out through his laughter. He couldn't get over how funny it was and how he'd never heard about it before.

"It was my father's taste in music. He was much older than my mother. Scandalously older, it was the talk of the small town when they married, and again when they divorced." She thought back about growing up as a rancher's daughter. It was such a different life after the divorce when her mother moved them to the east coast. It was totally different than the life she had now in the 'big city', as her father had called it.

"That's why my brothers are so much older, well half brothers but they never acted like half. Mitch was already working on the ranch, and Tom went off to school so they weren't there much. They were good brothers, protective, and fun. Well, when they were around anyway. Tom still treats me like a little kid." The memories took her attention away from the car.

Seeing her mind drift and wanting to touch her as much as bring her back, his hand reached over to take hers from her lap. He turned her palm up ran his thumb across it exposing the fingers to the air. His eyes darted from the two hands on the seat beside them, to her eyes watching them, then back to the road.

He laid his hand upon hers, palm to palm and slowly ran the whole of it up toward her fingertips. He pressed the weight of his down onto hers, as if to open it up. When his wrist reached the end of her fingertips he reversed the motion and gently trailed back down her opened hand. His fingers stopped to lightly lay on her wrist.

Her response, or lack of one, gave him the green light and allowed his hand to continue its leisurely exploration of hers. She could only watch, mesmerized by the tiny motions of skin over skin. The deep sense of relaxation that this type of touch brought was counteracted by the sparks of electricity. His fingertips traced each of hers up and down along the length of each. His pads brushed over her knuckles and across the back. He wrapped it up into a ball to hold it inside his fist.

"Are you nervous?" He didn't look over. He continued with the casual tour of her hand. All of his searching over all of hers as if it were looking for something. A tactile answer to an unspoken question. The spoken question had a very clear answer, but she was still in disbelief.

"Nervous? What on earth would I have to be nervous about?" She turned away, hoping the playful smile would hide the apprehensive one, as she watched the darkness go by.

"Nervous about my taking you home and getting you out of that swishy dress. You've never seen how big this monster inside my pants is. You might be scared," he replied in that voice he used when playing with her.

He'd never been able to resist the temptation of teasing her back when she would start in. But his hands wouldn't be as easily sidetracked. His fingers ran up the back of her hand to lace between hers, gripping it tightly.

"I've seen it. Not scary." she shot back, trying for aloof.

"What!" His eyes whipped around to her and missed the traffic light turn green until a honk brought him back.

"I've seen it. That weekend on the boat. The redhead, what was her name, I never liked that bitch. Everyone there saw you two that night. It's impressive but not scary. Did you not realize that without the curtains closed the cabin windows were like a movie screen for the boat deck? It was better than a lot of the free internet porn, but sorry not scary." She reached across to take both their hands into her lap. She patted and held it in both of hers, like consoling a child when she realized that this was new information.

"You didn't know?" She couldn't keep from laughing.

"You sat on the deck and watched?"

"Yup. We all did. It was impressive, but not scary."

"And nobody said anything." He shook his head in disbelief. He didn't consider himself overly modest but he wasn't an exhibitionist.





Halloween Wedding



"We're not children. Just childish. You boys have your masturbatory fantasy film reels. Well that night, we got to make one too." She finally got her giggles contained.

"I knew it! I knew you got off dreaming of me." He was very satisfied with himself at that moment.

"So you've already seen the monster in my pants, seen me in action. You know what you're in for. You're not scared?" His hand pressed into her left palm, intertwining their fingers and brought it back to the center between them. The grin fell from her lips as a serious expression came to it.

"Honey, I don't think I've got anything to worry about. One or the other of us will back out before we do anything we'll regret in the morning. We're not going to end up in bed for a wedding date hook up. Sure we'll flirt, tease, maybe even fool around. But I'm not going to fuck you tonight, and I don't believe you would either." She didn't sound convincing even to her own ears.

"No, not fuck." His voice very soft and low, she found herself leaning in to hear him. He paused as he parked the car.

"Flirt, tease, fool around, but I AM going to bed with you tonight, but not just tonight. This is not a hooking up thing. This is it. We're doing this." His kiss stole the protest from her lips, the air from her lungs, and any coherent thought from her brain.

"Come on, let's go inside." Then he turned away to get out of the car.

Juniper sat in stunned silence in the empty car for the moment it took him to get to the passenger door. Her fingers brushed across her bottom lip as if to confirm that it was still attached to her body. There was only one thought in her mind, definitely not a brother. She was never one to wait for her door to be opened, but there she was, still sitting in the car when he reached down for her hand.

As she stood up to her full height in the red ruby slippers, she found the space between his body and the car was tight. He wasn't pressing her up against it but he wasn't giving away much room either. He cupped her chin in one hand and aligned their eyes to each other so when he spoke there wasn't any room for her to look away or avoid his gaze. He wouldn't let her wiggle away and play games to get out of this.

"Come on, let's go start our being together." She could feel his breath on her cheek and it brought goosebumps out on her arms.

"Being together?" She cringed at the sound of her voice. It was uncertain, and almost desperate.

"Yes. We are going to be together. Not just friends. Not just lovers. Not friends with benefits. We're going to be together like a couple. In a relationship. Me and you." His expression and sober tone left no question what it was he wanted.

She couldn't move. She was intoxicated by his scent and couldn't think straight. It sounded like he was trying to convince her of something. Push her into something. She wasn't resisting. He didn't need to talk her into anything. She was scared but not stupid.

"Thinking back tonight, if the only reason we haven't done this sooner was because of the timing. That we were never single at the same time, that's ridiculous. We're a good match. You're my best friend, but you can't deny the physical chemistry we have." He ran his hand up her forearm watching as the hairs rose up to meet the barest of touches. Their eyes met as they both laughed at the sight, effectively breaking the tension.

His hand moved from her arm to her face, brushing across the cheek to slide behind her neck. She let her head fall back as it followed his touch. The shallow breath caught in her throat leaving her lips parted.

"Donovan, please don't ruin this moment by trying to make a practical argument to a debate that's not there. Shut up and kiss me." The raspy whisper had none of the demanding authority of the command, but he obeyed.

That kiss was their new starting point. It was as if all the evening's fun and flirting were far away. As if all the years of life, love and heartbreak were far away. The closest two people can feel like that together, passion and sparks, skin and breath.

When his lips pulled away, she found she was pushed up against the car. Her breasts were rubbing against his chest as her lungs worked for air. She clenched a fistful of his hair not letting him back away any farther. They shared tiny touches and small kisses on each other's faces, his neck, her ear. It was hot but not a rabid unleashing. His hands traced the curves of her body and she could feel him, every inch of him pressed against her.

Then he ruined it, shattered the moment with his smart ass ways.

"Mm mm mmm now you want it and you can't have it," he chirped, backing away quickly to avoid being grabbed or smacked. Either was a very real possibility.

"What!?!" She stood still in shock against the car.

"I said we're going to be together, but you said you weren't going to fuck me tonight. So... Let's go to bed. Together. To sleep. So you won't regret anything in the morning. Then in the morning I can't promise anything." He took her hand to lead her up the walkway. He really was fascinated with her hands and couldn't wait to see what they felt like on his body, all over his body.

"Did I say that?" Allowing herself to be lead to her door in a bit of a daze.

"Uh huh, you did. Besides it's late and I have bigger plans for you tomorrow. Big plans. Impressive big." The corner of his mouth rose up with that eyebrow. He pressed her hand against his chest leading it downward just a little, not below his abs but suggesting it.

"Plans? What plans? When did you make plans?" She was starting to get frustrated at her lack of ability to speak intelligently.

He stopped her from getting her keys out at the doorway by leaning into her.

"I've wanted to wake up with you in my arms so many times and now that you're going to I want to leisurely enjoy the experience, bask in it, relish every inch of your body." He punctuated his words with the slightest pressure against her hip. "I don't know what I'd do if you woke up saying 'oh no, what happened last night'. So we'll go to sleep and see what happens tomorrow. I'll sleep in my boxers and you keep your hands to yourself. If you can," he said that with a sly smirk and a wink.

"Tomorrow huh?" She pondered the thought while opening the door and walking in ahead of him. Far enough ahead of him so she could think again. "We need to be done happening before dinner. I have to go to eat with my brothers, Tom is in town at Mitch's. They're kissing and making up. I haven't gotten a call for bail money so I guess there's been no bloodshed." Her tone didn't carry the worry of her words. She knew they'd be fine, maybe not best buds, but fine.

"Has it been a bad argument?" He contemplated the fact that they effortlessly shifted from talk thick with sex to casual chit chat about plans for the day. Neither side felt forced or awkward; it just surprised him that they could switch so quickly and easily.

"Well, I shouldn't exaggerate. I don't think they'd kill each other but it's been ugly between them and it's gone on for a long time. They hadn't spoken for a few years. Even with me Mitch disappeared, and I was maybe the only one not directly affected by his crash and burn. I was so much younger and not really involved with the ranch. I was the girl, more Mother's child than Dad's or the ranch's."

She talked while going about the coming home things, coat, bag, lights. He helped himself to a glass from the cabinet and water from the fridge. He was happy to let her go on while they were occupied with other things. She always revealed more when left to tell, rather than when questioned. This was new information, like the origin of her name. He was learning all kinds of things that night.

"Funny now that I say that out loud it occurs to me that we were each raised by one; I was Mother's, Tom was Dad's and Mitch was the ranch's."

"But you're very close with Tom and his family. Sometimes I forgot you had another brother. When he showed up in town I was surprised." He looked around the room for the family pictures trying to place them in the context that he did know about. She didn't talk much about her family.

He was supposed to be paying attention, but he wouldn't remember it in the morning. He was watching her dress sway as she moved around the room. He handed her the glass.

"Yeah Tom and I were both surprised he landed here. Mmm thanks. He was here for almost a month before he even called me, newly sober, repentant, wanting to be like a family again. It's nice having him around, a little weird, but nice. He was basically a stranger." She took the bottle of Advil from the shelf and gave him two after pouring more water.

"He meets me at my office for lunch sometimes. We've been to a few hockey games, which I can't believe they play here, in this heat. It's always nice and cool in there. We've been out with his girlfriend, she's fun. That reminds me I have to pick something up to take over, I can't bring a bottle from my hostess wine stash." A yawn escaped her transferring to him. She pointed the glass back at him and he shook his head.

Like any guy with a hard-on he didn't really want to know about it right then, but waited for her to finish talking.

"It's late, let's go to bed. I want to get some rest before making love to you in the morning. Or whenever, no presumptions, no pressure." He grinned as he jumped back into fooling around mode.

"Making love? Not having sex? Not fucking?" She transitioned back to flirting just a easily.

"No, not a wedding date fuck. Not tonight. There'll be plenty of time for that sort of thing." Slowly shaking his head stalking her as she backed her way toward the bedroom.

She let him catch up to her near the bathroom door and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Are you sure you want to wait till the morning?" she whispered in his ear. She rose up on her toes to brush her breasts against his chest. He returned the embrace and kissed her hair and behind her ear.

"Hmm, no?" he let out breathlessly and in the form of a question. She pushed him away playfully and turned into the bathroom leaving him empty handed.

"Nooo," he whined. They went separate ways to the tasks of bedtime. She washed away the night's makeup from her face, hers from the start of the evening and his from the end.

When she found Donovan in the bedroom he was face up across the foot of the bed in only his boxer briefs. He didn't move but his eyes followed her to the closet where she unzipped and dropped her dress leaving a slip over bra and panties.

"Before I get completely undressed we need to wash the rest of the costume makeup off your face. Come in here I'll help you," she said sleepily while holding out her hand.

"You're so beautiful," in response. There was that hand again. He was a little letdown that she hadn't at least pretended to need help getting unzipped. The disappointment didn't last long. He was distracted by her figure revealed under the flimsy fabric.

He sat down heavily on the toilet lid, sleep wanting to come to both of them. The heat of sex would have energized them, but they were still trying to resist that. His eyes closed as she massaged the soap into his face. She washed away the evening's clowning around but would never be able to wash away the clown in him. She wouldn't ever want to.

When she was done, while his eyes were still closed, she bent down to kiss him softly on the lips. He followed her up as she pulled away. He stood up into her and returned the gesture with much more heat. His hands wandered her body as his tongue explored her mouth. The feel of his naked back and shoulders made her rub against him looking for more contact. She couldn't have told you how long they were there like that, and he couldn't have told you his own name.

She broke away and almost ran for the bed as she stripped off the bra from under the slip. Turning around at the bedside she found him right behind her.

"We can't do this. We won't get any sleep wound up like this. You have to let me, umm we should release this tension. Then we'll both be more, re, re, relaxed and sleep well," With only the slightest stammer. "Can I watch you?" As she dipped to slide down her panties and backed up onto the bed.

"You want to watch me? You're kidding me, right?"

"Or I could help you?" She purred as she moved back toward him.

"Help me?" His confusion was clear.

"Yeah. We'll each have an orgasm, then we'll be able to sleep the relaxed sleep of the sexually satisfied," ending in a floaty sing song voice. "Instead of torturing each other with our frustrated bodies all night. Well, what's left of the night."

He stood at the end of the bed a little bit in shock. He hadn't seen this coming. But then again he couldn't see much else, only her breasts behind the almost sheer fabric covering them. He might have walked across fire if she asked him to right then.

She propped herself up against the headboard and tossed a pair of pillows to the foot of the bed. She sat back with her knees pulled up to her chest and gestured to him and the pillows.

"Here, that'll be a good view," she said in her bedroom kitten voice. She had used it to play and tease him before, but the effect it had on his body while she was wearing so little was visible. It looked crowded inside his shorts.

"You're killing me." Was his only reply but the shorts came down to his ankles and kicked off before he moved to his place by her feet. He stretched out his long legs next to hers and got as close as he could. He was getting ready to resent the space between them. He wanted to kiss her more and feel her chest pressed against his. But then it stopped. It all stopped.

All thoughts were swept away when he took in the view. One of her legs stretched out and pressed against his, and the other knee dropped open to the side. Her hands slid across the silky fabric of the slip, slowly up and down and across her belly.

His eyes never left her hands. They traveled along her body and up to cup her breasts with each erect nipple standing up proudly beneath the thin veil. Her fingers traced the outline of her areola and caressed each tip showing him how she liked to be touched. She loved attention for her nipples but never liked it rough. She knew they would get plenty of attention, he was such a breast man, but she wanted him to be gentle.

She dropped the thin strap from her left shoulder to bare her breast for her own caresses, and to his watching eyes. Her own eyes closed to enjoy the feeling, her head thrown back, lips parted. She opened them in response to his hand gliding along the leg that was pressed against his.

She was pleased to find his other hand wrapped around a very hard cock. She had thought in his surprise he might need some encouragement or direction. This wasn't the sort of thing she usually did the first time in bed with a guy, but with Donovan it just seemed right.

It wasn't fucking, like she said that they wouldn't. It would help them both to sleep, maybe. And after all night flirting she was so damn horny, she didn't care, she needed release.

It was the only thing they didn't know about each other, how they liked to be touched, how they wanted to be loved.

The hand not on his cock was on her leg slowly, rhythmically moving around and along it, much like he had with her hand in the car. It evoked a very sensual feeling, awakening every nerve under wherever he touched. His brain felt disconnected from the rest of his body. The sight of her hands touching herself like that, opened to him like that, was something new for him. It was like he was learning from her movements.

Her own hand had slid down to take a handful of warmth and wetness with a heavy sigh. She curled her fingers to run them along her bare lips and up into the coarse curls at the top of her mound. A few more passes and her fingertips slipped inside, parting her lips. A moan escaped her as one hand squeezed her breast and the other traveled the length of her slit to circle her clit.

Watching her in such pleasure but so far away was driving him mad. He was almost unaware of his body inching up the bed sliding closer to her. He needed to kiss her, needed to touch her. His hand was traveling farther up her thigh, and she reached out to stroke it much more delicately than she wanted to stroke him elsewhere. His hand responded to hers but all of his attention was focused on the other one, the one that was exposing herself to him.

He could see how wet she was. He could see what took her breath away. It was as if he could see what she wanted. His will power wouldn't let her have it without him, and he lost control. He sat up and grasped both her knees to give a quick pull bringing her close enough to kiss.

The surprise only made her pause, her hand was still between them, and she continued as his mouth swallowed her moans. When he released her lips for much needed oxygen, she took the chance to slip back out of his hold.

"This is supposed to be only hands," she tried to scold. She sat up on her knees and pushed him back onto the stack of pillows. She loved the way he was looking at her. She loved how his body was tense with anticipation. She really loved how his cock was standing up so tall and hard.

"Did you want some help?" she purred. She didn't wait for his answer and reached out with both hands to his chest. She let her fingers trace the lines of his muscles, around his nipples and down across his ribs. The deep sigh left no question to what he wanted.

She sat up to get a closer position; when she did, he reached out to take her nipple into his mouth. He whimpered loudly when she quickly pulled away.

"No no, just hands." But she consoled him with a kiss that lead him back down to where she wanted him.

She ran her hand across his belly watching the reaction from his body, his face, and his breathing as she moved lower. Around one side of his thigh and up the other, not quite touching the erection standing tall. Finally she cupped his balls and let her fingers trail along as she raised them up the hard length of him. He'd been stroking himself and was very sensitive to her touch by then.

She had to move again to reach the drawer for lube. This brought her breasts dangerously close to his lips again, and he couldn't resist the temptation. His tongue shot out to circle one nipple and she sat back up before she got trapped in his arms. He dropped back with that smug shit eating grin of someone that had gotten away with it.

"Bad boy," she scolded.

"Uh huh," he agreed. "Bring that back here and I'll show you how bad."

She ignored the invitation and instead focused on the task at hand, her hand, his cock and the bottle of lube. Her first few strokes to spread and cover all of him made his head roll back, his eyes close, and his mouth to fall open. It only took a little while for him to remember that he too had a job to do.

He followed the inside of her thigh to get close enough to feel the heat radiating from her. She had to spread her knees to open up more for his hand. He was too turned on for any cursory foreplay and moved straight for his target. He dipped his fingertips into her moisture to spread it around the hard clit standing out from its hood. He followed the same path her fingers had as they travelled around inside and out. And he was gratified to see the same responses, gasping, and twitching.

When he slid two fingers up inside of her his breath was taken away by the grasp that tightened around his shaft. They were playing off each others reactions and responded with their own hands to get what they wanted the other to feel.

She was being ruthless in her pursuit to make him come. He then was merciless. When she flicked at the glands below the head he knew what he had to do. He turned his fingers up into her g-spot while strumming her clit with his thumb and she was off. Her screams and moans were loud enough to wake the neighbors, if she had had any. He had to concentrate to stay with her as the climax made her twitch and buck. Her hand was still around him. It was wild in its uncontrolled movements. The odd thought came to him, sitting up on your knees can't be a very good place to orgasm.




Halloween Wedding



He sat up to wrap his arm around her, afraid she would fall over and took the opportunity to kiss her deeply and passionately. She had to stop his slow rhythmic petting of her inside and out when the sensation became too much for her.

It wasn't clear if one affected the other but their kissing became synched with the movement of her hand. It wasn't long before he was letting out long, low, deep, growling groans as his body flexed and jerked in time with them. One hand was working his shaft while the other massaged the head effectively catching the semen from spraying all over.

He didn't release her from his arms and picked her up and took her along as he moved to the head of the bed. After a quick wipe down they settled in next to each other not saying anything more. They quietly held each other. He was kissing her hair and she was running her hand down his back as they fell asleep quickly.

*****

She fought to stay asleep as consciousness drifted over her. It felt so good she wanted to stay. It was so warm, so soft, so safe and just right with his arms protectively around her like that.

His arms? A blink and sleep was gone, but her open eyes were the only indication of that. The room came into focus. The clock. It was only eight, not bad for a Sunday after the wedding but far too early.

The wedding. Donovan. They talked. Oh God. They... And they... And it felt so good.

No it wasn't like that, everything they talked about the night before was rational. They weren't drunk, they weren't caught up in sexual desire or hormones. They were acting like grown ups. That thought made her body stiffen. That wasn't like them at all. What's wrong with them. They were not grown ups, not when they were together. He is the one she played with, joked, and laughed with.

A deep breath pressed his chest into her back from the spooned position they were in. She laid there thinking about everything that was said last night, and about Donovan. How can any woman think rationally when she was wrapped up with a body like that. It wasn't that he was so big or overly chiseled, although it wasn't bad at that. It was that it fit so good, just right.

Usually it's not too difficult to get out from under an arm or a leg on a morning after. But a tight, full body spoon, unless the guy's half dead, he's going to wake up. Juniper's attempt wasn't any more successful.

His arm reached out to follow her, and pull her back by the waist.

"Come back," he mumbled with sleep still thick in his voice, and eyes still closed. She took his hand and folded his arm back to him. She couldn't help but smile when his fingers wrapped around hers to pull them back into his chest.

"I'll be back," she assured him and pulled the sheet back over him.

Any other man and this would have been a scene from a romance novel, but it wasn't any other man, it was Donovan.

Donovan, the man that had burped, farted, and scratched himself in front of her for years. The man that she had to bring soup, tissues, and NyQuil to at least twice a cold season. The man she had to wrap up, and calm down after he put his hands through a picture frame.

Not exactly harlequin cover material when a man is almost hysterical at the sight of his own blood. A fond grin came to her as she remembered the night. In his defense it was a lot of blood, and he was already emotional from the reason the frame was broken. He tried to cover it with a story about stumbling into it because he was drunk, and his hands broke his fall. She didn't buy it, but entertained his illusion. If someone trips into a wall, their hands fall palms open, not fists first. She always forgave these types of sin. The drinking alone because he was arguing with his father, again, and then lying to try to hide it.

She didn't have a sense of regret, but she wasn't sure how she felt about it. One thing she was sure of, she was scared. Scared that it would turn out too bad and scared it would turn out too good.

A quick visit to the bathroom and some juice and she was back. Standing at the side of the bed she watched him sleep directly in the middle. She was a little surprised at his facial expression. She would have guessed that he would look younger, more boyish while asleep. Instead his features were deeper, thoughtful, and more mature. Analyzing the situation, she decided that it might as well get set out from the start what was 'her side' of the bed. She put the glass on the side table on the 'other side', and climbed back in on the right.

She really wanted to go back to sleep. Closing her eyes tight she sent a little silent prayer, please stay asleep. No such luck. The shift on the mattress caused him to roll onto his back away from her. His arm landed at the edge of the bed. His body seemed to register that the arm sent to find warmth landed on empty space, so the other one went in search. Making contact with its target the rest of his body quickly followed.

Donovan didn't open his eyes as he rolled toward the warmth of her body. He was still so tired that the old man's voice saying you can't stay up all night anymore, and the young man's voice saying shut up I'm not that old, flickered in his mind at the same time. More importantly his thoughts settled on, she came back, she came back to bed.

He didn't know how long she'd been gone, sleep took him back before she was out the door. His last worry before they fell asleep the night before had stayed with him, will she still be here in the morning? Or will she run away?

When he was a little more awake the anxiety started to swirl, but as soon as it started he pushed it aside. His mind was eased by the thoughts of she came back. She's here, she's warm, and soft, and feels so good. Any uncertainty he'd felt the night before was driven away by that deep sense of comfort.

His arms tightened around her back as he wriggled into her, trying to get her tucked up against his chest.

"I brought you some juice but it's too early for coffee. Please, can we go back to sleep. I need to go back to sleep," she said, almost whining. She didn't resist his arms, but she didn't really help either.

"Sleep, yes." His eyelids were blinking heavy and slow. "I don't like orange juice but thanks."

"I know you don't. Do you like dragon fruit mango?" A happy noise was the only response. He was suddenly up to move around her, and reached for the glass.

She was one of the few people that knew of his secret fondness for exotic fruity juice. They had once spent an evening at his place getting drunk on colorful umbrella cocktails. The kind most men wouldn't be caught dead with in public, hence the night playing cards giggling like school kids. Two years of living together and he'd never sat down to drink fruit juice with that bitch. He'd sneak off with Juniper to drink smoothies every now and then on a lunch hour. A man can get caught with a smoothie, but not a tequila sunrise.

Still in the fog of sleep, it occurred to him all the things that he'd never had with other relationships. The things he was missing, he already had with Juniper.

He left the bed for the bathroom with his glass, and came back drinking more. When he climbed in beside her this time, she did help to wiggle up close to him. He stopped her before she pressed her face into his chest. He kissed her, softly at first but the intensity quickly flamed. He couldn't believe what came out of his mouth when they paused.

"Will you be offended if I fall asleep?" His breath short from the quick fire and the disbelief of his own words.

"Oh God please, please. I'm so tired. We're not stupid kids anymore. We can't stay out late partying, then up all night fucking, and still get up in the morning." She tried again to hide her face in his chest.

"We weren't fucking. I have yet to fuck you," he growled and bent to bite her neck, making her giggle.

"But now you want to sleep?" It was a plea as much as a question.

"Yes, so do you," he said as he lifted his head to tuck her under his chin in a full body embrace.

*****

When she woke again, the sun was high and bright around the edges of the window shades. She found her back held tightly spooned against his hard body, and his harder cock. She tried not to wake him. She wanted to feel the parts of him that were touching, chest, arms, thighs, and of course the hardest part of him nestled against the cheeks of her ass.

She didn't know if the change in her breathing woke him, or if she had moved against him more than she realized. His breathing became conscious, and his muscles started to flex before a hand traced the line of her arm. He moved down her ribs, with only his fingertips grazing the flesh on the side of her breast. His hand settled onto her thigh after skimming over her hip.

"Mmm," he mumbled. She felt it more than heard it.

He flexed and stretched without moving away causing them to be pressed together even more closely. He leaned up on his elbow to lift her hand to his face. He brushed his lips across her fingertips lightly, then drew her palm back across them. That's when he froze. He inhaled deeply, and when he let it out his chest rumbled with an almost silent groan.

Her reaction was to tense and try to pull away, but he held her wrist tightly.

He could smell it. They hadn't washed up before falling asleep, they had only wiped up. He found it incredibly arousing, the scent of her, of him, of them mixed together. Her arm relaxed allowing him to continue with another exploration of the details of her fingers and hand. This time it was his lips and chin and face that caressed her. When her palm was flat against his mouth she curled her fingers under his jaw, asking for, and getting, the freedom to return the motions of skin against his features.

She wiggled back against him getting the desired effect of his hips leaning into her ass. This was too much for him. He couldn't continue this, dry humping like a dog. He rolled her over holding her face in his hand and took her mouth in a passionate kiss.

"It's morning. Now, I'm going to make love to you, like I promised last night." That was all he said.

They weren't going to talk about this anymore. They weren't going to laugh, or joke around about this anymore. She wasn't going to be scared of losing something good, and he wasn't going to worry about ruining everything.

He reached out to the side table grabbing a condom, but then all his attention was on her. He used his lesson from the night before to guide him around her body. His lips, his tongue, his teeth traveled softly over her. His hands were firmer with her body, her breasts, her ass, her hair. The exploration of both bodies was an adventure for each of them.

He took a fistful of curls at the nape of her neck and pulled back hard enough and far enough to expose her throat to his kisses. She let out a sharp cry of pleasure, not pain. He took this as an invitation and was welcomed as he slid into her. They fit together so well. She groaned at the feeling of being filled so completely with his hard cock.

He was dominant enough to not let her be, aggressive enough to control the action, but gentle enough to show her that he had been paying attention the night before. She gave in easily to him. She had a tendency to try to control sex, but she always responded wildly to a man that would take charge without hurting her.

Donovan was doing everything right. It was almost like he already knew his way around her body. He seemed to know right where on her neck she would gasp when he bit down. His breath across her ear when he brushed his lips against it made her shiver.

The sounds coming from deep in his body were low and began to fall into tempo with their rhythm. The vibrations from his chest were carried out through his lips to set fire to her nipples as he suckled each one. His tongue circled her areola, first with the tip then with the flat, leaving them wet for the cool air to harden.

Her fingers clutched at his arms, at his back, in his hair. She was grabbing onto something, anything. As he pulled back from her, she arched up, matching him stroke for stroke. She had her head thrown back letting out a moan from his deepest thrust, when he suddenly wrapped both her legs around his waist. Before she realized it, he had lifted her by the hips to rise up on his knees carrying her up with him. He held her ass up, suspended in the air while he drew his cock in and out of her to a new depth.

This new angle fit both of them so right. He led the pace, controlling her whole body by his grasp on her hips. Someone needed to keep control because she couldn't. Her moans and other unrecognizable sounds were coming faster and louder. The vibrations throbbing inside her body were trying to break free.

He slid them up on the bed to lower her back down to the mattress before he lost control too. One arm stayed around her waist holding her body against his as they moved together, matching one for the other.

He took her hand to lay a kiss to the palm before pressing it back to the mattress as well. He laid his hand in hers to lace their fingers together, tightly gripping each other. Their hands mirrored their bodies in that closest connection.

It was driving him crazy. He didn't know how long he could take it as the pace became frantic.

"Oh baby, please," he cried out into her hair. It didn't matter what it was he was pleading for, she gave it all to him when he pushed the button. He knew he couldn't last much longer and wanted her to get off before he did. He fingered her clit, setting her off.

Her body exploded around him and tightly held him inside of her. The extra sensation finally made him lose control. They were wildly together for those few moments, and totally out of rhythm.

Then, as it always does, it started to fade and they came back to earth. They lay together panting as their hearts raced against each other.

They didn't talk, they didn't joke, they just relaxed into it. The tension unwound, they fell back to sleep still tangled in each other.

*****

When Juniper woke up again it was to the smell of coffee. She shuffled out to the kitchen to find Donovan bright eyed and showered. He was at the table eating breakfast in the pants that had been under his costume, but no shirt. Damn it. How can he look that good after a night like that, when I look like shit?

"Coffee. Breakfast. Mmm," she said sleepily. Her hand self consciously in her hair.

"Do you want to shower while I make you some?" He knew where her mind was. It amused him, both what she was thinking, and that he knew it.

"Why, do I stink?" She tried to put on the wise crack, but she knew her insecurities showed.

"Yes, I can smell the sex from here." In three strides he was wrapped around her.

"And it smells so good. I might take you right here, right now," he growled into her ear. "Go on take a shower so I'm not distracted while I'm making your eggs." He turned her around swatting her behind.

"You've always got to be the smart ass, don't you?"

"Who would I be, if my ass wasn't smart?" He followed her making sniffing noises.

Breakfast was a simple wanna be omelet, the only thing she had in the fridge for it was cheese. She ate quietly, and he let her. He was busy watching the thin robe rub across her nipples and fall open a little wider when she reached for the coffee.

She knew he was staring. She liked it.

When she stood to take her plate he stood up into her, pushing the plate aside. Without a word he wrapped an arm around her waist and the other behind her thighs. He lifted her quickly to sit her on the counter. Slowly, he untied the robe to expose her breasts to his hungry mouth. He kissed, and licked, and suckled, but never bit. Her head thrown back left her throat open to his lips as well. The robe was pushed off onto the counter and her knees were spread wide around him.

"Now, I'm going to fuck you," he said almost in a snarl. He held her hands down on the counter behind her back.

"Turn me around," she begged him. It didn't sound anything like when she was playing; this was breathless and desperate.

He was happy to oblige her request and stepped back to spin her around to face the counter. He also reached into his pocket; being a good Boy Scout, he was always prepared.

He didn't spend any more time with foreplay. She didn't want it. The whole night had been foreplay, and now she was wet with need. He slipped into her holding her by the hips. They both gasped when they were deeply joined together.

It quickly turned into a good old-fashion fucking, like he promised. It was hard and fast with long deep thrusts. Her hands pushed back against the wall. She had to fight to keep from being slammed into the counter. Her moans and squeals added to his enjoyment.

When he took her by the hair again, she cried out loudly. He lifted her upright off the flat surface by one breast, his other arm around her waist holding her back onto his cock.

"Oh wow, you really like that," he almost chuckled.

"Yes! Oh, yes!" she let out breathlessly.

He used various handles on her body to pull her onto him as he thrust his cock deep into her. Her hips, her tits, her hair all worked well for pulling her back as he propelled her forward. When he was ready he pushed the button.

His cries were louder than hers as he tried to stay steady on his feet, and hold her up at the same time. The eruption of sensations within her body made her tense all over until it was washed away by a wave of euphoria.

They were both breathless and panting, their hearts both having run the same race. They slowed together until barely rocking against one another.

"Oh god," she let out under her breath. His chuckle in response caused him to slip out as he softened inside her.

"No honey. It's me, you can call me Donovan." He brushed the hair away from her face to see her eyes smile back, even if her lips weren't able to yet. He could see her call him a smart-ass even if he couldn't hear it.

They were slumped over the counter together waiting to get the strength back to stand upright. When she could, she turned around to face him tugging the robe back on as if to protect herself.

"How did you do that?" in an accusing tone, still trying to catch her breath.

"What? Do what?" Not sure what he did.

"Simultaneous orgasms. I've never done that. I thought that was only faked in porn. How did you do that? Twice?" The shock and surprise in her voice made him laugh.

"Oh that. I was worried for a minute there." He sat down at the table still a little weak in the knees. "All you gotta do is push the button," he responded smugly. He pointed his index finger at her and made a tapping motion.

"Push my button? That's what you call it?" she said, letting out a huff, but not able to stifle the smile .

"You've seen Gone in Sixty Seconds with Nicolas Cage?"

"Yeah, it's one of your favorites."

"Eleanor the car has the nitrous tank in the back and during the chase scene he hits the 'go baby go' button setting it off. Well, you are like an Eleanor and I always knew you had some nitrous under your hood." He tapped his finger toward her again with a smile from ear to ear.

"You are so beautiful..." He reached out to grab her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. He let out a deep sigh of contentment into her hair. "Go baby go..." he murmured, but she could feel his body tense under her. "Eleanor."

She screamed as she jumped up, smacking his shoulder.

"No. No way. You are not going to call me a car's name. That is not a term of endearment. I don't care how good the sex is." The laughter and the expression on his face were priceless. He grabbed her again lifting her off her feet to carry her back to bed as she squirmed, and squealed, and slapped his back.