My Autumn and My Winter

Rich shrugged, though inwardly he felt like a cold knife sliced into his belly. He wasn't about to let Phil know that his barb had struck home, though. He wouldn't want to ruin his rep.

"Like I care what she does. Besides, I took home this stacked blonde the other night. Let me tell you, she was a freak!"

Phil shook his head, ringing out his tie into a small waste basket at his feet.

"You really expect me to believe that you don't care about Susan? What about that time you got wasted at Chet's birthday party and were all sobbing about her-?"

"Shut the fuck up. Like you said, I was wasted off my ass. Broskis can't bring up things that get uttered under such circumstances. It's against the guy code!"

"Since when? Look, man, Susan's in her twenties now. You're not going to get in trouble if you make a move on her."

Rich's nostrils flared, and his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.

"Why are you giving me such a hard time about Susan? I mean, after I looked out for you in Jr. High..."

Phil's mouth dropped open, and he spread his hands wide.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Rich, our only interactions in Jr. high consisted of you trapping me inside my own locker, you and Sven forcing me into the girl's locker room naked, and a total of twenty seven swirlies between seventh and eighth grade combined."

Rich pursed his lips, and his brow wrinkled with thought.

"You know what, I do remember doing all that and more. And I just have to say..."

He sighed, and put a hand on Phil's shoulder.

"...that those were good times! Good times, my friend!"

Phil rolled his eyes and turned to face his keyboard.

"I should have known better than to expect...look, I have a lot of work to catch up on, so can you please go away and pester me later?"

"Expect what?"

"What?"

"You said you should have known better than to expect—and then you stopped."

"Oh. An apology."

Rich's brow furrowed.

"An apology for what?"

"For picking on me in junior high!"

"Oh, that was good for you. It toughened you up, didn't it? And besides, we never threw you down the stairs or beat your ass like the delinquent kids would have. Shit, we did you a favor."

"Oh, come on, how in the hell can you say that?"

"It's simple, geek. Bullies are like quarterbacks. Then hate sloppy seconds."

He slapped a hand on Phil's shoulder and patted it roughly. Then he was off, leaving Phil to stew.

Teach you to try and mess with ME.

The truth was, he was a bit miffed that Susan had gone home with someone else, but he had long ago reconciled himself with the fact that the two of them would never work as a unit. Oh, she was beautiful, and had always lived her life with energetic enthusiasm. You couldn't be around her and not be affected by it. But they had grown up together, and she was his friend's kid sister, and the fact was he was ten years her senior.

Again he felt a twinge in his midsection. Why was it bothering him so much? He had scored too. Vanya had been gone when he woke up, only the stains on the sheets and a hint of her perfume on his skin a sign that she had ever been there. Well, that and the red spots on his dick...

He grinned as he sat down at his own cubicle. That had been quite a night, quite a night indeed. Vanya was just what the doctor ordered, getting him back on his game. After all, Steve's wedding was coming up in a few days, and there would be plenty of desperate women too hook up with.

Just as his fingers were about to touch his keyboard, he was struck by a sudden thought. Who was Susan going to go to the wedding with?

His fingers pounded on the keys a bit harder than was necessary for most of the morning.

** *

Rich had his own ways of making the work day go by. Sure, he handled his accounts, but at this point of his stymied accounting career he finished in less than two hours. He certainly wasn't going to go and ask for more work like that dweeb Phil. After all, they were both still in the same office after five years. All volunteering for extra work had ever gotten for Phil was an attaboy pat on the back, and Rich certainly didn't need those.

So, after he finished his accounting, he made his rounds of the various cubicles on their floor. Their floor manager took a three hour, six drink lunch, so Rich made no silly pretenses like carrying around a file folder. He chatted with an older co worker about an upcoming dart tournament, complimented the elderly receptionist on a new haircut, and spent a long time next to a pretty little redhead who he sometimes persuaded so share his bed.

It was just about lunchtime when he finally got back to Phil's desk. Rich smirked, taking note of the way Phil was checking his hairline carefully in a rectangular mirror.

"It's never to early to start the Rogaine, buddy."

Phil flinched, almost dropping the mirror.

"Since when do you carry around a vanity mirror? Got a compact and lipstick in your purse, too?"

"Ha ha."

Phil flipped the mirror over, revealing it to be the chrome backing of his smart phone. Rich shrugged.

"You going out to Sven's tonight, nerd?"

"Yeah, of course. It's kind of a bridal shower, bon voyage party for Steve and Autumn. I think everyone's going to be there."

"Been a while since I was out to Sven's place."

"He stopped inviting you after you said his fourteen year old sister had nice tits."

"Hey, it wasn't like she was in the room, or the country for that matter. Besides, it's not like I was gonna do anything about it...damn, his sister must be like twenty now-"

Rich swallowed hard, his stomach falling into his feet. Phil cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to puke or something."

"Uh, Philsy, what's Sven's sister's name?"

"Uh, something like....Ivana? Yeah, Ivana."

"With an I?"

"Uh, yeah. Why the sudden interest?"

Rich's mouth became a thin line.

"That chick I hooked up with at the party, she...might have been a foreigner. With a thick accent."

Phil laughed, light dawning in his eyes.

"Oh, you're worried you already slept with her? Well, don't be. Ivana speaks perfect English. On some of the words she says, you can kind of tell, I guess, like she says farst instead of first, but it's not that noticeable."

"Ivana, is she hot?"

"I guess so. She was sitting in the back seat of Sven's ranger so I didn't get a good look."

Phil's face darkened.

"Hey, don't you even think of hitting on her. Sven would kick your fucking ass."

"Oh, I'm not afraid of a geek professor. What's he gonna do, lecture me till I die of boredom?"

Rich snickered.

"Can you imagine how much it must suck for his students, though? Trying to understand him, I mean. Ze answer to ze equation is three, Ja? Then they all write down three y a on their papers."

"I'm going to try and eat my lunch now. Can you not bother me for a little while?"

"Brown bagging it again? C'mon, a bunch of us are going to hit the new Chipolte's for lunch."

"All the way by the river? That will take you most of your break just to get there!"

"Eh, it's not like Dickey will notice. He won't be back in the office until two thirty."

Phil chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right about that. I love how he tries to pretend he was in a boring meeting instead of in a bar."

"That's why he's always got a bag of popcorn on him, to cover up the liquor on his breath."

"Does that really work?"

"You tell me. Does he still have a job? Besides, I heard old Dickey is married to one of the big wig's daughters, so he has job security."

"Still, I'd just as soon not take the risk. You have fun, though."

"You know it, nerd!"

Rich punched him hard in the arm before he left.

Chapter 4

Steve hustled across the carpet in socked feet, striving to buckle his belt at the same time. He didn't quite make it, and ended up holding his pants up with one hand while depressing the intercom button.

"This is Steve Borgia, apartment 4-7. Can I help you?"

The speaker crackled with an accented voice.

"Yes, am looking for Out um Winters?"

Steve chuckled at the garbled voice.

"You mean Autumn Winters?"

"Yes, that is what I said. Out um Winters. I have a package for her, please."

"Okay, I'll be right down."

Steve let go of the button and finished dressing. Autumn stuck her head out of the bathroom and peered down the hall, hair swaddled in a towel.

"Who's at the door?"

"Some delivery person, apparently. Are you expecting something?"

"Yup. Can you go sign for it? I'm naked."

Steve looked down at his bare torso and shrugged.

"I guess."

"Thanks."

Autumn disappeared back into the bathroom, and he slipped on a pair of black dress shoes that complimented his charcoal slacks and then jogged down the stairs.

When he got to the street, he could see the UPS driver peering anxiously through the glass door. The package was about the size of a microwave oven, but didn't seem to be all that heavy judging by the way the man balanced it on one upturned palm. He opened the door and took the package from the grateful driver and headed back up the stairs.

Steve shook the package, but it made no discernible noise. Shrugging, he set it on the kitchen table and went into his bedroom to pick out a shirt.

"I put it on the table."

"Thanks."

"This is like the third package you've gotten in the last week. What's the deal?"

Autumn strode out of the bathroom on stiff legs, clad only in a pair of black lace panties. Her slightly upturned nose twitched, and her hands were on her hips.

"The 'deal' is that I want you to have the most fantastic sexual experiences of your life on our honeymoon. Okay?"

Steve held his hands up and smiled weakly.

"Okay, okay. I was just curious."

She walked up to him, heavy breasts swaying, and poked him in his still-bare ribs.

"You didn't sound just curious. You were like 'what's the deal?' That's accusatory, not curious."

Steve laughed as she continued to poke him with her sharp nails.

"Ow, quit it! I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"Stop trying to fend me off! How am I supposed to get past those hairy tree trunks you call arms and poke you?"

"Uh, you're not supposed to, that's the point!"

Steve grabbed her by the wrists and held her fast. He risked a glance down at his ribcage, noting the many red marks on his flesh.

"You marked me up, you savage!"

Autumn pulled hard, trying to get free from his vise like grip. They wrestled for a moment, then went down on the bed. Autumn ended up on top, but Steve still had her wrists.

"Surrender!"

"Surrender? I'm on top, sugar. You surrender."

"You're on top, but you can't do anything."

"Oh, can't I?"

Autumn lifted one of her knees and tapped him none too gently in the crotch. It stung but didn't really hurt. Her brows rose, as if daring him to test the theory.

"Okay, okay."

Steve released her, but she did not rise from her position. Her hands kneaded his flesh, digging furrows through his dense chest hair.

"I just got these pants on."

"Buck up, little trooper, you can put them back on again."

"Autumn, we're the guests of honor, we can't be late. Besides, didn't you want to abstain from sex until the wedding?"

"You keep bringing that up. Don't you think I'm sexy?"

Autumn tilted her head back and put her arms over her head, lifting her breasts slightly. Her eyes were closed, a half smile on her face. Steve swallowed, hard, and felt himself growing rapidly erect.

"Of course I find you sexy."

His hands began massaging her breasts, and as always he marveled at their softness. Autumn took his hands and gently pulled them away, leaning her torso forward until the metal ring through her left nipple brushed Steve's nose. He pursed his lips and kissed the artifact and the surrounding flesh. Autumn sighed, supporting herself with her hands on the headboard, and smiled.

Steve used his tongue to flip her ring upwards, then hooked the end of it through and pulled lightly. Noting that Autumn had let go with one hand to tease her other nipple, he reached up and used his own fingers to assist. Autumn took his hand in her own and brought it to her lips. Her saliva slickened his fingers as she sucked wetly on them one by one. When she brought his hand back down to her smooth brown areola he used his moist fingers to trace around it.

With his mouth he applied suction, taking her entire nipple into his oral cavity. Every so often, he would bite down on her flesh, usually eliciting a moan from Autumn.

Steve brought his free hand between their bodies and slipped it beneath the hem of her panties. Autumn threw her head back, yanking her tit out of his mouth in the process, when he slid his middle finger between her slick labia.

Autumn rolled off of him and began fumbling with his belt buckle. She was hampered by the fact that Steve kept his hand busy beneath the lace of her underwear. He had both his index and middle fingers inside of her at that point, and was working on his ring finger. Grunts and sighs escaped Autumn's mouth as she desperately clawed at his trousers, pulling them to his knees.

Steve was overcome with the urgency in her movements as she yanked her panties to the side and straddled him. They both gasped as he slid inside of her. Autumn looked down at him, her lips curled in a lustful snarl. She snapped her hips forward, then swiveled them in tight circles. At the same time her vaginal walls clamped down on him spastically, and it was all he could do to hold himself in check. Autumn's eyebrow twitched as she stared into his flushed face.

"Don't come yet."

"I'm trying not to!"

"I mean it Steve." She punctuated every word with an intense gyration when she spoke again. DON'T. FUCKING. COME."

Steve's eyes rolled back in his head, and his toes curled. His body begged him for release, and he struggled to deny it.

"You're about to come, aren't you?"

Steve's face jerked to the side, and he slapped a hand over the growing red mark on his cheek.

"Did you just smack me?"

"Yeah. Worked didn't it? Now FOCUS."

Steve shuddered as she began swiveling her hips once more. Steve focused well enough. He focused on the profoundly deep shudder that coursed through his being, flowing from the wellspring of the union of his and Autumn's bodies. He slumped against the mattress, breathing heavily.

"Aww, I broked mah toy," Autumn said, ruffling his hair. Gingerly, she slid off of him and collapsed onto her side. She gazed at him, brown eyes wide and shining. He stroked her glistening cheek with a still shaky finger.

"I love you."

"I know." Autumn snuggled up to him. "I love you too."

"It's getting late."

Autumn groaned as he tried to rise. She intertwined her legs with his and clamped on with both arms to his shoulder.

"No! I don't wanna get up!"

"Autumn, we have to go. Sven has been planning this for weeks. It wouldn't be fair to stand him up."

Autumn blew out a noisy, wet razz and clamped down all the tigher.

"I don't wanna go to a party where you have to use a certain fork at a certain time, and who knows what kind of weird shit he's going to serve. You know what they eat in Scandinavia, Steve? Rotten shark meat that's been buried for months."

"What? No way. I bet they do that to preserve it, or something. You know how cold it is in that part of the world."

"Uh uh! I can fucking Google this shit right god damn now if you want! They piss on it, sugar. To keep it from freezing, and to flavor it."

"To flavor it?" Steve turned white.

"Uh huh. Makes it taste just like chicken, I'm told."

"Chicken?"

"Well, chicken that's been buried in a hole and used as a septic system for a village of heavy drinkers, yeah."

Steve dashed into the bathroom and quickly freshened up. He heard rusting as Autumn rose out of bed and padded across the floor. She appeared in the mirror as he dashed on cologne. Her arms wrapped around his stomach and her fingers interlocked.

"No, daddy, don't go to work. Stay home and bake cookies with me!"

"Autumn, c'mon!"

"You're no fun."

Autumn released him, then started laughing hard.

"What's so god damn funny?"

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, what's it look like?"

"It looks like you're wiping off your dick. What's the matter, Steve? Don't want to smell like my pussy?"

Steve blanched, staring at her in wide-eyed shock.

"Uh..."

"Oh, I'm just messing with you, sugar!" She slapped him on the butt so hard he yelped.

** *

Steve breathed a sigh of relief as they left the city behind. It had been one of those nights when every person ahead of him was doing twenty, while those behind thought they were racing in the Grand Prix. And some of those assholes had the nerve to flip him off?

"Can you believe those assholes had the nerve to flip me off?"

"What?" Autumn looked up from her phone. "Sorry, sugar, what'd you say?"

"Nothing, just bitching. Go jack back into the Matrix."

"Ooh, the Matrix. That's a timely reference, sugar."

"So you say, but there you are becoming a slave to technology."

"Oh, bullshit."

"No, it totally fits. You carry it around, pamper it-" a grin spread on his face as she plugged the phone's charger into his dash board "-feed it, and give it all your attention."

"Okay," Autumn said, putting the device down on her lap. She was wearing a long skirt dyed deep purple. At Steve's urging, she had toned down her look a bit. Her heels were modest in height, and a long sleeved blouse concealed many of her tattoos. Of course, Autumn had belted the blouse tightly around her waist, so her unbound bosom was straining against the silk, and the skirt showed off every curve of her sinuous body, but at least she wouldn't frighten Sven's children.

"Eyes on my face, you perv," Autumn said, snapping him out of his reverie "and the light has turned green, so you might want to put your eyes back on the road."

"You look good tonight," Steve said, hastily speeding down the avenue.

"Anyway, let's get back to this whole bullshit about this phone being, like, my master. I choose to allow it to invade my life."

"Oh, yeah, the addict always says they can quit whenever they want."

"Don't make me throw this phone out the window, Steve."

She rolled down her window, and Steve nearly fainted.

"Stop! Okay, I give! Jesus Christ, woman!"

Autumn snorted and set the phone down.

"I think that I might be able to see a pet parallel here, though."

"Yeah, definitely. Of course, people only have pets because they're like a dry run for having kids."

Autumn's nose twitched, and she turned her gaze to the road. Steve tried to engage her in conversation, but soon abandoned the idea. He knew her well, now, and when she got silent it usually meant she was mulling something over in her mind.

Deciding to give her the time to do it, he just settled in and listened to the radio. It was a good sign, his father had said, when a couple could sit quietly together without being awkward. The short drive to Sven's home in White Plains was otherwise uneventful, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Autumn perked up when Steve pulled off the highway and entered an upscale subdivision.

"Shady Oaks? Why do these places always have such stupid ass names? Why not call them what they are, ghettos for rich Wasps!"

"Careful, one of my best friends is living in this 'ghetto.'"

"Oh, don't get sand in your mangina, Steve. You know I'm just fucking around."

"Er, could you try and curb your swearing at Sven's? They've got kids, and-"

"Scared I'm gonna embarrass you, sugar?"

Steve glanced over at Autumn. She had a sly smile on her painted lips, eyes glinting with malevolence.

"No, that's not what I mean at all. C'mon, Autumn, it's a formal dinner. Try and pretend like you're a member of the human species for a little while, will you please?"