Rags to Reunions

Lily turned and stretched up to meet him, kissing from her toes. She looped her arms around him and pulled. Together, they tumbled back onto the bed.

They undressed each other with barely checked excitement, like they were the last presents on Christmas morning. They didn't need to rush. They didn't need to be quiet. They reveled in each exposed layer. The way that Lily's buoyant breasts perfectly filled Jack's hands. The V that formed along Jack's hips and disappeared beneath the band of his boxer-briefs. The faintness of her tiny freckles that dusted her pastel complexion.

Lily rolled each tattered stocking down her legs, one at a time as Jack watched on his side, resting on an elbow. He couldn't resist running his hand across her stomach as she did so, feeling her muscles tense and relax.

Lily did the honors of removing Jack's underwear. Black and stretched tight along his cyclist thighs, she peeled it down and released his hard length. She couldn't help herself. She took it in her hand, feeling the cropped hairs prickle beneath her palm, and took it into her mouth.

Jack's cock swelled, filling Lily's small mouth. She turned her head and he watched the bulbous impression carve along her cheek. She took it deeper, tasting their earlier adventure -- it stoked the heat between her legs. She swallowed him until her nose was nestled in his pubic hair, and then languidly pulled back, tonguing the lip of his glans. She smiled as she watched it lurch. She folded herself between his thighs and took him all the way in again, massaging him with her throat muscles. Do you like that, Jack? Not your little Lily anymore?

She worked him enthusiastically, reaching beneath to tug at his balls as her auburn hair bounced. "That feels so good..." he groaned, tugging at her hair. "But come up here. I'm ready for more."

Lily gave him one last staggering suck and eased up along his svelte body. She dragged his cock through the valley of her décolletage and fixed him with a lingering arch of the brow -- maybe later, you could try my tits? She'd only felt this brazen with her ex-boyfriend, Craig, and with Craig, she'd always felt a little tainted afterwards. With Jack, she just felt like she was herself.

He collected her garter belt -- now hanging useless and decorative -- and thong in one motion and edged the soft lace over her hips. His breath caught at her aching beauty. He wanted to sink his teeth into it, but restrained. She stretched out along his side. "I want you on top," she whispered before kissing him.

"A traditionalist, of course," he said, kissing her back.

His hands felt large and warm as they spread her. "Well, I don't want you to think I'm some kind of freak on our first night together," she laughed musically.

Jack mounted her, stroking his rigid member along her moist opening. He teased, hard flesh meeting slick and smooth. He felt her clit quiver as he passed his crown along the knotted folds, titillating himself with her bare shaven womanhood. Their groans cascading into one another, he pulled back to look down at her. Her green irises dilated beneath her heavy lashes. Do it...

He sank into her like he was meant to be there. She tightened under his body, bowing backwards as a keen slipped from her throat. He captured her neck between his lips. The vibrations of her moans encouraged him. He licked higher. Along her jaw. To her ear. "You feel so good..." The arc of her back grew more extreme. He held her at the base of her spine and rose to his knees, taking her hips with him.

He tried to be gentle. He wanted to capture the tenderness of the moment. He tempered the urge to take and take and take, but in the end, he couldn't help himself. Her rippling body was too much of a temptation. He watched her undulate against his cock, her body dappled with sweat, and lost himself.

Guided by hands that didn't yield, she broke against his strength. Their bodies played percussion to each other, wet and moist and rattling loud. Lily planted one foot on the quaking mattress as she dug the other heel into the base of his spine. He drummed harder and his balls clapped against her ass.

"Oh, fuck!" Lily cried as an orgasm smashed through her.

Incredibly, Jack didn't cum. He reached down and lifted her writhing body into his arms, holding her against his still-kneeling frame. He nuzzled his forehead along hers until her eyes fluttered open and they could stare at one another. No sound came out but a huff, but she understood. "You're incredible..."

Lily's forehead creased again as another orgasm stretched her thin. Or maybe it was the same, pulling and pulling. She felt a mouth on hers. She opened up and felt Jack's tongue flood between her lips. It was loose and lazy and perfect for moaning around. And then it was gone. She looked up at him through the fog of lust long enough to watch his boyish face grow tight, wrinkles shattering the corners of his eyes.

"Cum, baby. Cum!" she pleaded, even as he obliged. She clung to him as he exploded in a riot of liquid heat. She held him and kissed him and ran her fingers through his curly hair until it stood up wildly.

He collapsed onto the bed, smothering her as he fought to fill his lungs. "Nothing traditional about that," she giggled when he finally rolled away.

He washed his hands over his face and shook his head. "I'll say."

Lily stretched out beside him, her thick hair the tangled halo of a less than holy angel. They were silent for a long stretch, enjoying each other's comfortable nakedness. At last, Lily sighed, closed her eyes, and sank her head back into the pillow. "God, I can't believe this night. It's been crazy."

"You mean the library?"

She stared up at the ceiling, wondering if it would be too chilly if he turned the ceiling fan on. "Hell yeah, I mean the library! But also the walk home. Your home. This. Us."' She grew self-conscious before she was finished. "You aren't going to get in trouble for that, are you? Letting us into the library, I mean."

"Other than that I'll never be able to grade papers in that corner, no." His fingers tickled a little as they stroked the curve of the lower half of her breast. "You OK with what happened?"

"Jack, I'm not a little girl anymore."

"Don't worry, there's no confusion there." He pinched her nipple, watching it tighten like a pulled knot. "But I didn't realize you were in the practice of watching others have sex. Or secretly joining them."

"Well, maybe that was a first." She thought a moment. "You're always talking about how people grow and change. How we shouldn't judge people on their past. But eventually, Jack, you have to stop thinking of everything in terms of the future and where you'll be. You know? Eventually, you need to say, 'This is me, take it or leave it.' Well, Jack, this is me."

He draped an arm around her and kissed her cheek. "I'll take it."

****

In the morning, they took a shower together, deciding to get a little dirtier under the spray before getting clean. Lily didn't have anything to wear other than her cocktail dress, although as she walked into the Marriott's lobby with Jack on her arm, her walk of shame didn't feel very shameful.

Last night's gala was being dismantled and carried out by sleepy looking students from the current crop of seniors. Lily thought they looked so young.

A couple waved to Jack, their eyes going wide at the pretty woman at his side. Lily blushed but couldn't help but edge closer to him. The guys nodded at Jack. You go, man.

"That was slightly embarrassing," Jack murmured as they waited at the elevator banks. Lily squeezed his arm.

The doors slid open and a fresh looking Adele Blanchette stepped out, designer sunglasses holding back her golden blonde hair like a headband. "Jack. Lily," she greeted, completely unsurprised to see them together in such an incriminating way. "I'm so glad I caught you before I left."

She pulled her roller bags out of the elevator before hugging them warmly. Lily envied the woman's resiliency. No way she'd look so bright after a night of booze, drugs, and sex like she'd had.

"I hope we didn't freak you out too much last night," Adele smiled.

"I should be mad at you, you know. You used me."

Adele put a finger on her lips and gave the matter a moment's consideration. "Yeah, I did a little, didn't I?" Then she spread her hands out to encompass Jack and Lily and added, "But it had a happy ending." Lily couldn't stay mad at Adele. Not with that excellent point. "Also, I hope you guys enjoyed the show last night."

Adele recollected her bags as Jack and Lily comprehended what she was saying. The blonde let out a belt of hearty laughter as she watched Lily and Jack go white and sickly. "Don't worry. Pretty sure I'm the only one that saw you, and, well..." Her tongue darted out the corner of her mouth. "...I enjoy an audience." She handed Lily a business card, printed with heat-raised pink script. "If you're ever in New York, give me a call."

On the elevator up, it was Lily's turn to say, "That was slightly embarrassing."

****

They hadn't really had the "what's next" talk. Jack wasn't going to pressure her and Lily still wasn't sure how she felt, beyond wanting to be with him.

She packed her things as Jack watched television, his face expressionless. It was crazy to think how much he was already missing her, and not just because she could fill out her tight jeans. He'd turned down more than a fair share of dates with other teachers and friends of teachers because he was waiting for someone to come along and blow him away, and here she was, packing her bags and maybe never coming back.

On the way to the airport, Jack announced that he needed to grab something from the house. A parting gift that Lily couldn't fathom. "Wait here," he said as he jumped out and headed inside.

She watched him walk down the flagstone path and imagined herself at his side, her hand in his. Then she thought about her life back in the city, and her small apartment that she barely knew. When she caught Craig and moved out, she hadn't bothered to set up a new place of her own. She lived more at the hospital, anyway, but more than that, she just couldn't do it.

She looked up at the storm shutters and the peaked roof. She thought of the widow's walk and how they used to sneak up there and talk about the future -- how Jack was going to be an astronaut and Lily was going to be a doctor (even then, she knew what she wanted in a career). You've got it, girl, now what?

Jack returned, his hands shoved into his pockets, his face drawn yet hopeful. "What did you get me?" she asked, hoping she sounded cheerier than she felt.

He started up the engine. "Always thinking about you." It was a joke and was intended to be, but it echoed again and again in Lily's head as they made the trip to the airport. It wasn't true, right? Just because a woman is career driven it doesn't make her self-centered, does it?

Jack parked and helped her with her bags. He waited patiently on the opposite side of the queue for her to check in, then walked her to the security terminal. As they approached, holding hands, she realized how wrong this felt. "Jack, I don't want to go."

He turned to her. They shared a hug that went on and on. "I don't want you to, either, but you know you have to."

How did he not tear up? she thought begrudgingly as her vision grew watery.

"Jack, I think I'm in love with you." You never stopped...

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a simple, brass key. "I want you to take this." He pressed it into her hand and closed her fingers around it. He kissed her knuckles.

"What is it?" she asked, but knew the answer.

"My promise to you that if you ever decide to come back, my door will be open to you."

"Oh, Jack..." She could barely see through her tears.

"But first, you need to figure out if that's what you want. And, at the very least, finish your residency." When he smiled down at her, everything felt so right. She squeezed the key until its dull teeth left her palms pink and sore.

"Thank you." They kissed, putting everything behind it. Last night. The last ten years. All the ones before that. Past, present, and a bright future were squeezed into that kiss.

As Lily walked along the tarmac of the tiny airport, she knew she'd be back. And she knew Jack would be waiting.

The End